When deciding what wild cat species live in the US state of Louisiana, the best source of information will be the geographic range maps on the IUCN Red website, which are reproduced on PoC. The only possible wild cat species in this state are the puma, bobcat, jaguarundi and ocelot.
The bobcat is ubiquitous throughout the USA so the bobcat can be found in Louisiana. Officially, the Puma’s range extends east as far as Texas but not as far as Louisiana. Therefore, the puma (cougar or mountain lion) should not be seen in Louisiana. However, some wandering young males might enter the state looking for a home range.
As for the jaguarundi and ocelot, you can bracket these together as their geographic range extends as far north as Mexico (jaguarundi range – ocelot range). They do not exist, according to the experts, in Louisiana.
That said there may be some in the state and some might have escaped from a private zoo. That’s it really. There is nothing much more to say. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries don’t appear to tell us what wild cat species are in their state but the answer is straightforward. If a visitor to this page has seen any of these cats it would be nice if you could leave a message. All four species are discussed in detail on this website. Please use the search box or go to this page to start.
Thanks Drew for your great inpuit. Appreciated. Pretty special to see a jaguarundi but obviously very rare.
I’ve seen a Jaguarundi near Morgan City. In Patterson, to be precise. Spent thousands of hours in the woods here and that is the only sighting I’ve ever had of one. Plenty of Bobcats though. We have a ton of black bear in St. Mary Parish as well.
Just found a jaguarundi or bobcat & a coyote on my gamecam that I have in the backyard! I live between Bush proper & Covington. It’s not the first time I’ve seen the coyote but it is the first time to see the cat!