Found in the Americas, a margay is a spotted wild cat with thick and soft fur. It is a solitary animal and is completely dependent on the cover of the treetop canopy in its territory. Sometimes, a margay hunts, sleeps, and even raises its young ones on trees.
A margay hunts small mammals, including monkeys, birds, eggs, lizards and tree frogs. While hunting, a margay often mimics the call of its prey to lure them. It also eats grass, fruit and other vegetation, which helps with digestion.
Though margays depend heavily on trees, they hunt on the ground too. When it gets down a tree, it walks slowly head first down the trunk, unlike most cats that rush down or descend hind feet first. If it ever falls from a tree, it uses its hind legs to catch hold of a branch and break the fall. Margays were hunted illegally until the 1990s. This led to a sharp decline in the number of margays.
The margay has been listed as ‘Near Threatened’ on the IUCN Red List.
Picture Credit : Google