RAYMONDVILLE, Texas (AP) — Experts believe an endangered ocelot found dead on a South Texas highway was struck and killed by a vehicle.

The Valley Morning Star (http://bit.ly/1NuWlkE ) reported Monday that the cat's body was found June 8 on Highway 186 between Raymondville and Port Mansfield.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the carcass was a mature female first confirmed in Willacy County in 2011. The rare cat was spotted by remote cameras by the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute.

Authorities say the animal was one of only about 80 ocelots left in the U.S.

Approximately 30 of those live on private brush land in Willacy County. The others are in and around the Laguna Atascosa (a-tuhs-KOH'-suh) National Wildlife Refuge.

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