The Oncilla
Felis (Leopardus) tigrina Schreber

Variously known as the tiger cat, little spotted cat, tigrina or the oncilla, this is one of the smallest Latin American cats. The name oncilla is Central American.
Coloured a light to rich ochre, the oncilla is marked with rows of large dark brown or black spots. These become black bordered blotches on the back. Underparts are lighter, almost white and are less spotted. Ten or eleven rings encircle the black-tipped tail.
The head is small and narrow, and the backs of the ears are black with white central spots. Those individuals which live in mountainous regions tend to be more heavily marked than the lowland animals.
Very similar to the margay, the oncilla is smaller and has a relatively shorter tail which probably reflects its less arboreal nature. Melanistic individuals have been reported, especially from southeast Brazil.
The anterior upper premolar is minute.
Closely related to the ocelot and margay, the oncilla has only 36 chromosomes. Most of the other cats have 38. These species have all been considered to be members of the Felis genus. Wozencraft (1993) in his latest review of cat taxonomy placed them all in the genus Leopardus.
Three subspecies of the oncilla have been described:

The oncilla ranges from Costa Rica south to northern Argentina and possibly north Peru. The distribution in the Andean zone is unknown. It is found in cloud and humid lowland forest as high as 1000 metres in altitude.
The map shows the known distribution of oncillas in grey.
The map is based on information in the Wild Cats Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan published by the IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group in 1996. See our Books page for more details.

Hunts small birds, mammals and insects.

Solitary and nocturnal, the oncilla is terrestrial, but can climb very well.

One or two kittens are born after a gestation period of 74 to 76 days. Slow developers in comparison to domestic cats, oncilla kittens take their first solid foods at about 55 days. By 55 days, domestic kittens are usually hunting well. Weighing approximately 80 to 130 grammes at birth, oncilla kittens only open their eyes after 17 days, a week later than domestic cats (Leyhausen and Falkena 1966). However, Quillen (1981) described oncilla kittens which opened their eyes in eight days and started eating solids by 40 days.

Deforestation for coffee plantations has extracted a big toll from oncilla populations, particularly in the northern parts of the range.
Oncillas became extremely popular as fur coats when trade in the larger Latin American spotted cats was restricted under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Since then, their population decline has prompted the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) to classify them as Vulnerable and CITES to place them on Appendix I (Conservation and Legal Status of Wild Cats. Cat News 12, 1990, p. 26). This prohibits all international commerce in oncillas or products made from them.
The IUCN Red List has the oncilla as Near Threatened. (Cat News 23, 1995, p. 21)