MARGAY MAKES IT TO BWRC BUT STILL IN CRITICAL CONDITION"After a night of countless messages, phone calls and some midnight video chats, we are happy to see this patient arrive alive, albeit still in critical condition with head trauma from his run in with a vehicle and suspected lung injury.
We thank all involved in this past curfew emergency response (kudos to Dr. Charles, Thank you to FD and Mr. Flowers for the afterhours effort and permission!). We keep our fingers and toes crossed the patient pulls through and wanted to confirm that it is indeed an adult male Margay.
How can we tell? One of the most useful morphological featured is well visible in this image during rehydration: the length of tail compared to body length. The Margay as an arboreal species has a tail as long as his body or longer (whereas the bigger sized and terrestrial Ocelot has a tail that is shorter than it's body). The Margay uses his long tail as a balancing stick in the trees and is of slender build and lighter weight. The eyes (much larger in the nocturnal Margay) as well as the body size of adults (which is not always easy to assess and may sometimes benefit from xrays or dental exam) are further criteria to differentiate the species.
Another awesome anatomic feature of the Margay that none of our other cats share is that they can rotate hindlimbs 180 degrees, and hang or climb facing head down, as another adaptation to their arboreal Lifestyle.
BELIZE WILDLIFE AND REFERRAL CLINIC