The last steps to secure a permit to take the endangered ocelot population in Cameron and Willacy counties to an area with more space are underway.

East Foundation research program Coordinator Lindsay Martinez applied for a permit to reintroduce the endangered American ocelot population to their 300 square mile ranch near Jim Hogg and Starr counties.

“By searching for similar sites here in Texas, we believe we found a good site for the reintroduction of ocelots,” Martinez said.

El Sauz, the East Foundation’s ranch in Willacy County, is home to dozens of ocelots.

The plan is to breed more ocelots and introduce them to the East Foundation location in San Antonio.

“Ocelots don't think about landowner boundaries, so it's expected that they could disperse around to other properties,” Martinez said.

The permit has to consider what neighboring landowners might think about having ocelots on the San Antonio Viejo Ranch, with the possibility they might migrate on their own.

In response to that possibility, the US Fish and Wildlife Service created a “safe harbor agreement” for landowners in Starr, Zapata, Jim Hogg, and parts of Hidalgo and Brooks counties.

The agreement gives landowners some certainty they won't be affected by federal rules on endangered species.

The pending permit is part of a bigger plan to breed new ocelots for reintroduction by the Cesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, which just received a federal $12.2 million dollar grant to fund a captive breeding facility.

The government is public input on the proposal to expand the ocelot range in south Texas.

Information on the proposal, and an option to provide input on the agreement, is available online.

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