"It's disappointing," Reeves said. "But at the same time, science doesn't always go the way you expect it to."
Researchers will spend the next few months trapping wild male ocelots to collect their sperm before resuming fertility procedures in the fall.
By the end of the year, a facility in Kingsville, Texas, will be constructed to house ocelots, provide medical and reproductive care as well as a setting for young ocelots to learn how to hunt in the wild.