Costa Rica's Most Adorable Wildcat, Magay

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Costa Rica's Most Adorable Wildcat, Magay

Ever heard of a cat who's staple food is meat? Meet the Margay. This unique wildcat is nocturnal and lives on meat such as monkeys, rodents, birds, lizards, and insects. They are usually found in remote sections of rain forests. They are found from Mexico to Northern Argentina. Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica is also a home for Margays.

Margays are light weighted and have a quite small size. Margays weight from 3 to 5 kg and are 5cm tall. Adult Margays are about the size of a large house cat and have a tail more than half the length of their head and body. The margay and ocelot are different from other Neotropical cats in the hair on the back of the head and nape that slants forward. These two cats have open spots outlined in black, but on the sides of the ocelot these spots form bands. Occasionally there will also be a black margay.

This beautiful cat used to be around everywhere in Costa Rica, in thick woods from coastal lowlands to interior mountains. Since it isn't that big in size and is lovely as a pet, it was not hunted as voraciously as the ocelot, but its habitat has been extensively deforested for banana groves and pastures. Margays don't like to live in open areas, now they are confined to forested reserves throughout Costa Rica. One of the most active places for Margays is Corcovado National Park.

The Margays are the best when comes to climbing trees among all of the neotropical creatures. It's not rare to find this cat sleeping in trees and making nests in hollows. The margay marks branches or other objects with urine. Margays have one or two young in a litter and do not breed in captivity.

Since Margays are nocturnal animals, their preying style can be compared with the one from the Jaguar. Because the Margay is naturally rare in its environment, most of its dietary studies were based on stomach contents and fecal analysis.

Margays used to be so plentiful that it was considered to be a specie that cannot go extinct. But with the continuous challenge of global changes, these sweet looking animals are facing extinction according to IUCN. However, Corcovado National Park has taken quite a few important steps so that these beautiful creatures can enjoy their time around and you can have a look at their lifestyle whenever you want.

About the Author

Marina K. Villatoro, the Travel Experta, has been living in Central America - Costa Rica and Guatemala for over 10 years. She has traveled here extensively. Now loves organizing vacations to this amazing part of the world, having first hand experience of all the places with her family. Contact her for advice and to plan your perfect trip!