Our ocelot pair, Diego and Inka have been at the North Carolina Zoo since their arrival from the San Francisco Zoo in 2010, where they were already an established breeding pair. They had two litters of kittens while at the San Francisco Zoo and four litters at the North Carolina Zoo. The pair even has grand kittens at various zoos throughout the country.
Diego is 17 years old, and Inka is 16 years old, both exceeding the average life span for ocelots in the wild. Diego is described as shy and eccentric. He is very friendly but prefers to stay indoors. Inka, on the other hand, is very high-energy. She is also described as an excellent mother. Keepers have watched her first-hand, teach her kittens the basics in climbing and hunting, while also being a very protective mother. Diego and Inka’s genes are well-represented in the genetic pool of ocelots under human care and are no longer a breeding pair.
