Estimation of ocelot density in the Pantanal using capture-recapture analysis of camera-trapping data

Trolle and Kery produced one of the early rigorous density estimates for ocelots, applying closed-population capture-recapture to camera-trap data from the Brazilian Pantanal. Ocelots are well suited to photographic identification thanks to their distinctive chain-like rosette and spot patterns. The study detailed station placement along trails frequented by the cats and estimated abundance and density with appropriate sampling-area corrections. It helped establish ocelots as a model small-to-medium felid for camera-trap research and provided baseline density figures for the region. As an early demonstration that the tiger and jaguar framework transfers cleanly to smaller spotted cats, it is a regularly cited reference in ocelot ecology and in the broader literature on camera-trap density estimation of marked felids.