Rare footage of three ocelots captured in Zhejiang nature reserve

High-defini- tion images of three ocelots, a class-2 species under state protection, was unveiled on Tuesday by the Nanshan Provincial Nature Reserve in Jinhua City, east China's Zhejiang Province.

The footage was obtained by staff at the nature reserve during their routine sorting of camera data. The footage captured a female ocelot and her cubs as they were foraging for food in the depth of night. "In this footage, we captured a total of three ocelots, one female and two young cubs. The female ocelot was very alert in front of our infrared camera. After confirming that it was safe, she left the area with the two cubs," said Lou Xiaoli, a staff member at the nature reserve.

Ocelots belong to the cat family and have dark spots all over their bodies, which have been said to resemble Chinese copper coins. They are mainly found in mountainous forest areas full of shrubs. Staff at the nature reserve said that ocelots generally lead solitary lives except during the breeding season, which makes it is rare to capture footage with three of them at the same time.

"Ocelots are solitary animals. The presence of three ocelots at the same time indicates that the female is in the nurturing period and that there is a certain population of ocelots in the Nanshan Nature Reserve," said Zhuang Qianjin, another staff member.

Jinhua Nanshan Nature Reserve is the largest nature reserve in Zhejiang Province. In recent years, the reserve has established long-term monitoring plots and used digital equipment such as infrared monitors and drones to bring rare and endangered animals into public sight.