A couple of ocelots at the zoo. One was asleep, while the other was pacing the enclosure rather rapidly, as if he'd rather not be in there. It was, frankly, one of those moments that makes me skeptical about keeping animals in zoos. Some species appear to do ok, but others just don't seem to fare so well, mentally or physically, in enclosed spaces like this. I do understand the education and conservation arguments for zoos, and I doubt I'd ever get to see a live ocelot otherwise, and I'm not actually arguing against zoos, in general. But that doesn't make it any less unsettling when you see a cat pacing and looking trapped.
Surprisingly, ocelots do occur in the wild in a couple of places in the US. There's a small population in South Texas, and one was recently sighted in Arizona as well. If they happened to live in more forward-thinking parts of the country, this might be an opportunity to lure in well-heeled ecotourists, paying big bucks for a chance to maybe see an ocelot, or a jaguarundi, or even a jaguar in the wild. I usually roll my eyes at the whole ecotourism thing, but it really does seem like there's an opportunity here.
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