Camera traps bring you closer to the secretive natural world and are an important conservation tool to study wildlife. This week we’re taking you on a journey to South America to meet the ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), a wild cat found across the Americas.

Ocelots have adapted to many environments, including rainforests, savannas and swamp forests. These videos were taken in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest where they live in sympatry and sometimes in competition with other felids like jaguars, pumas, margays and yaguarundis. Watch the video to learn more about this species!

Special thanks to Fauna Forever for sharing the camera trap videos from the Peruvian Amazon, and to the San Miguelito Jaguar Conservation Ranch for additional footage.

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Banner photo by João Carlos Medau via Wikimedia commons

Romi Castagnino is Mongabay’s bilingual writer. Find her on Twitter and Instagram: @romi_castagnino