Margay

By Rani Iyer

---

Margay

Scientific Name: Leopardus wiedii

It’s not a monkey, yet it lives on trees. This creature is a great imitator and mimics the call of other animals. And this creature leaps and chases monkeys and birds on treetops. Can you guess the animal?

Here is another clue. The fur of this creature is honey colored with rows of black rosettes and longitudinal streaks. Did you say a cat? Yes! You are right. This creature is called Margay (Leopardus wiedii).

You can see Margay in rainforests from Mexico to Argentina. Watch out! Like a monkey, the Margay can hang from the branches and climb down head first from trees. It is a small cat, about 4 kg (9 lbs) and 79 cm long (31 inches). The tail has a black tip with many dark bands.

Margay is nocturnal and lives alone. A tired, resting Margay, rests in clumps of lianas that is difficult to climb on. The cat feeds on monkeys, birds, lizards, squirrels, tree frogs, and eggs. Margay comes down to the ground, when moving between hunting areas. When on the ground, they eat cane rats and guinea pigs.

Each Margay requires about 16 square km (6.2 square miles) to live well in the forest. As forests are disappearing, Margay is becoming rare. In the past, Margay was found in Texas. Today they are extinct in Texas. Margay will be lost forever if we don’t save forests or stop hunting them.

Here are some ideas to incorporate Margay in lessons: roythezebra.com

Margay

Margay sleeping atop a tree branch	Margay (Leopardus wiedii)	Margay sleeping atop a tree branch
Margay (Leopardus wiedii)	Margay sleeping atop a tree branch	Margay (Leopardus wiedii)
Margay (Leopardus wiedii)	Margay at the Belize Zoo	Margay sleeping atop a tree branch

Animal profiles

Birds
Bare-Faced Ibis
Blue and Gold Macaw
Common Potoo
Green Honeycreeper
Hoatzin
Horned Screamer
Jabiru Stork
Malachite Kingfisher
Mealy Parrot
Northern Cassowary
Scale-crested pygmy-tyrant
Rhinoceros Hornbill
Scarlet Ibis
Wattled Jacana

Mammals
Asian black bear
Black-and-white ruffed lemur
Bornean Rhino
Brown capuchin monkey
Capybara
Coquerel's Sifaka
Crowned Lemur
Kinkajou
Malayan Tapir
Margay
Mountain Gorilla
Plains Zebra not a rainforest species
Spectral Tarsier
Spider Monkey
White-lipped peccary


Reptiles
Green Basilisk
Leatherback Sea Turtle not a rainforest species
Pygmy stump-tailed chameleon
Spectacled Caiman


Amphibians
Gladiator Tree Frog
Green Poison Arrow Frog
Monkey Frog