Dr Karl B. Koford spent seven months last year studying the status and distribution of the spotted cats, especially jaguar and ocelot, in tropical America from Mexico south to Brazil and Argentina. This project, to which FPS contributed through the Oryx 100% Fund, is mainly funded by the International Fur Trade Federation (as part of the agreement in December 1970 that introduced a voluntary ban on the use of five endangered fur species, including leopards and the cheetah), the Frankfurt Zoological Society and WWF. The following is taken from Dr Koford's ‘interim conservation review’—his final report will come later this year—together with some points from his separate reports on ten Latin American countries.