NTOTA was glad to support the re-wilding effort of BWRC with the female Ocelot named “Ziggy” by purchasing a Telonics radio GPS collar in preparation for her release sometime later this year.

With supreme care to give her any human interactions as soon as she was weaned, Ziggy began her re-wilding path. Over the course of a year, allowing Ziggy to grow to her full-size and mature to maximum strength and abilities, the little Ocelot was first housed in an enclosure with a smaller footprint to accommodate her small size.  The above video shows her practicing her “wilding” in her small introductory enclosure. After several months Ziggy was then moved to the larger Re-Wilding Enclosure (see above photo). Ziggy made great strides in learning to hunt and forage on her own in the Re-Wilding Enclosure.

The Telonics collar will allow Dr. Isabelle and her team to track Ziggy for her first year on her own.  Through GPS and radio frequencies her movements will be monitor her whereabouts, giving researchers clues as to her activities, mating behaviors, hunting and more.