SPEAKER 1: They are elusive and they are endangered.
Only a few dozen of these beautiful cats, called ocelots,
are actually left in the United States, and most of them
live in the Rio Grande Valley.
Sadly, seven of the rare cats were
killed in just the past year, hit by traffic while trying
to cross busy highways.
That's why TxDOT is now teaming up with the US Fish and Wildlife
Service, they're designing special highway crossings
to help the species survive.
Channel 2'S Lauren Freeman reveals those plans.
HILLARY SWARTS: Sort of a take on the old riddle
of, why did the ocelot cross the road?
LAUREN FREEMAN: To reach new territory or a female mate,
young ocelot males forced out of their habitat by older ones.
Instead of crossing busy highways,
this safer alternative is under construction and underpass.
HILLARY SWARTS: So were I a cat, here I would go.
LAUREN FREEMAN: So how will these endangered animals
know where to find the special crossing?
HILLARY SWARTS: We can't put up a sign for the ocelots that
says, cross here, cross here.
LAUREN FREEMAN: Wildlife staff are
installing chain link fences.
HILLARY SWARTS: Above this, and going down along the sides--
LAUREN FREEMAN: To funnel the animals in the right direction.
It's already working in the Valley between Port Isabel
and Brownsville.
Check out these surveillance pictures.
HILLARY SWARTS: You are really talking
about understanding the animals, biology, movements,
and what they prefer.
LAUREN FREEMAN: The new underpasses
are being built along State Highway 106, which
crosses the Laguna atascosa Wildlife Refuge, where
a new road is expected to speed up traffic,
making it just as deadly for the ocelots as highway 100,
on the way to South Padre Island,
four were killed there trying to cross a big impact
on their tiny population.
Lauren Freeman, KPRC 2 News.
SPEAKER 1: The US Fish and Wildlife Service
says only about 50 ocelots remain here
in the US most live on that refuge down in South Texas.
SPEAKER 2: While the temps are cool--