Species of Leopardus pardalis are threatened due to deforestation and loss of habitat and from intensive hunting for their much prized pelts.
Once found in many areas of southern North America, central America and much of south America, the ocelot has almost disappeared from its range in the southern states of North America.
Leopardus pardalis has been hunted and prized for its fur which along with deforestation in much of its habitat, has led to the cats virtual extinction in some of its range. The ocelot was the spotted cat most heavily exploited by the fur trade from the early 1960s to the mid-1970s.