Jungle Cats - Hunted Hunters (172/268)

Jungle Cats - Hunted Hunters (172/268)

They are the acrobats among the cats: margays. Like squirrels they climb down trees headfirst and are able to leap off a tree and catch a creeper with one of their paws. It is only with the back paws that they are able to hang from a liana and clamber up again. These jungle cats are at home in the rain forests of South and Central America. Sometimes referred to as "tree ocelots", their dappled fur proved to be their doom: when ocelots were still being hunted rigorously, hundreds of thousands of them being turned into fur coats, margay skins were also sold simply as "ocelot". Both animals have long since been added to the list of extremely threatened species, yet they are still being hunted and captured. They are branded as chicken thieves; moreover, in some countries they are even kept as pets. In Costa Rica, too, hunting and catching have been forbidden for years - yet skins and even live animals are confiscated again and again. And what is to be done with the captured animals? Two German biologists are attempting to deal with this problem: they have founded a hostel which takes in the captured animals and then returns them to wilderness.

The following new episodes are available:

• Jaguar Safari
  

• The Guinea Pig and his Grumpy Neighbors
• Raccoon Party
• Tiger Country
• Portugal - The Return of the Wild Creatures