Rare ocelot born at Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

TUCSON, Ariz. (FOX 10) - The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum has just welcomed a rare, adorable member to its family.

In March, the museum welcomed a rare, endangered ocelot to its pack, who was born to the museum's female ocelot. This "monumental birth" is the result of the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden's Center for Conservation and Reservation of Endangered Wildlife and El Paso collaborating with artificial insemination with frozen semen. Between all three establishments, two litters of ocelots were born.

The museum says ocelots are among Arizona's rarest mammals. They said in a press release "these medium-sized, short-haired cats are one of the 25 endangered animal and plant species that are represented in the Museum's collection."

The museum supports the Species Survival Plan, which is run by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. This plan helps these cats survive in the wild.

The ocelot and her kitten are not yet visible to the public, but visitors are still able to visit the museum's resident male ocelot.

FOX 10 reported on this story from Phoenix.