Guyana’s six ‘tigers’

By Matt Hallett

Part II

Guyana is home to six species of wild cat – each with unique natural histories, beautiful physical attributes, and interesting behaviours. Each of the six species plays an important role in the vast forests and savannas of Guyana, a niche that evolved over millions of years.

Whether it is as the top predator or feeding on rodents in the tree tops, the astonishing diversity of the landscape allows for all six of these species to share space, find enough food, and pass their genes on to the next generation, while each role plays an important part in the functioning of the landscape itself.

In a world where forests are being cut and overturned for short-term economic gain and species are being hunted to the brink of extinction, Guyana has managed its resources with a global perspective and an eye for the future.

And while wild cats have been vilified as dangerous nuisances that are a threat to public health recently in the press, maybe getting to know your wild neighbours might help all Guyanese realize what how special it is to share space with these unique creatures before it is too late.

Let me introduce to you the remaining ‘tigers’ of Guyana, none of which are actually tigers at all.

The puma (Puma concolor), also known as the deer tiger, cougar, mountain lion, panther, or catamount, is the widest ranging terrestrial animal in the New World with populations existing throughout North and South America from the Canadian Yukon to the Southern Andes.

The fourth largest cat in the world, puma body size can vary across their range with the physically largest individuals on the northern and southern edge of their ranges and the smallest individuals in the tropics. Pumas are plain in coloration, with tawny-brown or tan base coat and white underbelly. Juvenile pumas are paler in coloration with spots on their flanks.

Despite the term ‘black panther’ being attributed to this species, melanistic (all black) pumas have never been documented. Pumas might be almost as tall as jaguars, but are less muscular and not as powerful, and are much larger than similar looking small cats.

While their North American cousins may focus primarily on large prey, pumas in South America have shown a preference for preying on small to medium sized animals, including deer, capybara, agouti, labba, armadillo, and even livestock (calves, small adult cows, pigs, and sheep).

Preying on livestock causes conflict between pumas and ranchers and many pumas are killed each year in retaliation for predation on livestock. As large predators, pumas play a critical role (along with jaguars) in helping to keep large and medium herbivore populations in check, thus balancing ecosystems.

Considered common and widespread, pumas are still very secretive and highly elusive, making them very difficult to observe in the wild. Although considered a ‘Least Concern’ for conservation efforts, pumas play an important complimentary role that helps to maintain the amazing diversity found in Guyana.

The ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), also known as tiger cat, labba tiger, chicken tiger, dwarf leopard, tigrillo, and manigordo, is a small wild cat that is somewhere similar in appearance to jaguars, but is much smaller in size with rosettes that appear much more like long streaks than circular prints.

The ocelot is the largest of the small cats found in Guyana, with a cream to reddish-brown or tan coat and black rosettes. Ocelots are probably the most common of all the small cats, ranging across tropical forests, swamps, and savannas below 1,200 m in elevation, and distributed extensively across Central and South America from south Texas to Northern Argentina.

Ocelots seem to prefer habitats with relatively dense vegetation, but will hunt in more open areas at night. They are known to inhabit areas close to human habitation, which can cause conflict if they begin to prey on chickens.

Ocelots are known to be fiercely territorial (only coming together to mate) and will fight, sometimes to the death, to defend their home ranges. Like all of Guyana’s cats, ocelots mark their territories with urine or faeces and scent markings left by leaving scratch marks in trees or on the ground. However, ocelots maintain hard boundaries between their territories, while other cats may have overlapping home ranges that include individuals of both sexes.

Ocelots feed on a wide variety of prey within these defined home ranges, including small mammals, lizards, small turtles, frogs, crabs, birds, and fish.

While they will take on prey closer to their own size (labba and agouti), the majority of the ocelots diet is made up of rodents. As rodents can reproduce rapidly and cause extensive environmental damage, ocelots are a critical small mammal predator that helps keep forest systems in balance.

Ocelots were once classified as ‘Vulnerable’ because of a reduction in their populations that occurred as a result of heavy hunting for trade in their fur that occurred in previous decades. However, banning of trade in ocelot fur and other products has allowed this species to bounce, and today it is considered a species of ‘Lease Concern’ for conservation. (TO BE CONTINUED)