Texas has 60 ocelots remaining. Let’s save them.
For ocelots — small wild cats native to Texas — a slight, unremarkable-looking hill in South Texas is an important spot.
The hill, or “loma,” is located between Brownsville and the coastal town of Port Isabel. The scrubby brush that covers it is one of the only remaining patches of native Tamaulipan thornscrub along the Brownsville Ship Channel. The spiny, dense vegetation, once abundant in this corner of the state, provides ocelots the cover they need for denning, hunting and travel.
This may be the last place these endangered cats swam across the waterway, traveling from Mexico to the United States. Corridors like this have long been important to the species, but now natural gas refineries and export terminals may irreversibly alter and obstruct this unique pathway.
Defenders of Wildlife recently released a sobering report detailing how three planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities — including pipelines, refineries and terminals —will harm ocelot recovery. If built, the LNG facilities likely would block ocelots from reaching a neighboring population in Tamaulipas, Mexico, where interbreeding could provide vital genetic exchange.
Once ranging throughout the eastern two-thirds of Texas, this cat has been reduced to approximately 60 individuals residing in two populations in Cameron, Willacy and Kenedy counties. Today, less than 1 percent of their habitat in Texas remains, putting them in danger of localized extinction. Every bit of remaining habitat matters for the species’ survival.
Increasing human population, urban development, agriculture and oil and gas development all compete with the ocelot for remaining lands. In the immediate area of Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, home to one of the two remaining ocelot populations, recent and planned development includes the three LNG facilities, multiple wind farms, the SpaceX port and a new causeway.
LNG development in the region directly threatens the ocelots. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), responsible for environmental analysis and licensing of the LNG facilities, should reject these ill-considered applications.
But FERC has refused to evaluate whether production facilities might be redesigned and located away from the cats’ habitat.
The construction of each of these plants will cost between $3 billion and $7 billion. Despite those giant price tags, other than a few concessions from Annova LNG, the companies offer little or nothing to lessen the loss of habitat and connectivity. For example, mitigation efforts listed in the final environmental impact statement for Texas LNG include trying to make the footprint of the facility compact, shielding light to minimize glare and training workers not to run over ocelots.
The companies could have done a far better job addressing the threat that LNG development presents to ocelot habitat. For instance, the facilities could do less environmental harm if they could agree to share pipelines and terminal facilities instead of each building its own miles-long pipeline and terminal.
Fortunately, it is not too late to save this native Texas species.
A dedicated team of biologists, rangers and staff with the ocelot program at Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge is working to expand and connect habitat, supported by the Friends of Laguna Atascosa NWR and other volunteers. Plans are underway to translocate cats from Mexico to the U.S. to increase the genetic diversity in the population.
South Texans’ deep love for wildlife translates into action. Each year, Ocelot Awareness Day events hosted in and around Brownsville draw huge crowds. The Friends group and citizen volunteers monitor trail cameras and help plant thornscrub to restore habitat.
Nonprofit organizations including The Conservation Fund and The Nature Conservancy are helping to protect private lands with conservation easements. Defenders has staff working in Texas with partner agencies, organizations, landowners and businesses not only to stop ocelot numbers from dwindling but to increase the population. The hope is that someday, the species may no longer be endangered in the U.S.
Together, we can ensure that the ocelot remains a charismatic emblem of our state’s natural heritage.