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Defenders Magazine
Species Spotlight: The Margay
Margays spend most of their time traipsing around in trees. But unlike house cats, you never need to call a fireman to carry these kitties down.
Roughly the same size as domesticated tabbies, margays live mostly in forested areas and are perhaps the most accomplished climber of all the cats. Their climbing abilities owe much to their limber ankle joints, which can rotate 180 degrees. This special feature allows them to run upside down between branches, descend tree trunks head first and even hang from a branch by one hind foot like monkeys.
Margays hunt small monkeys, birds, tree frogs, lizards, rodents and insects that call the forest canopy home. The cats’ big eyes and fast feet allow them to hunt well at night. But their stealth and sure-footedness didn’t help them outsmart the fur traders of years past. In some years, traders killed 14,000 or more. Though poaching for furs and the pet trade is still a problem, margays’ greatest current threat is from deforestation.
Margays used to roam from South America to the southern United States, but they are now nearly extinct in their northern range and haven’t been seen in Texas for perhaps 150 years. And though they don’t need a fireman to get down from a tree, some other hero will have to come to their rescue if margays are to survive modern times.
