A couple recently spotted an elusive and endangered animal scampering across a road in south Texas, and the precious cargo waiting for it on the other side, photos show.

Jake Strouf was visiting the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge with his fiance when they caught a glimpse of something ahead of them: tan fur with dark spots, four legs moving fluidly by the road.

It was an ocelot. They quickly pulled out a camera and started shooting.

“We never imagined we would actually see one,” Strouf told McClatchy News.

Experts estimate there’s somewhere between 50 and 80 ocelots in the United States, McClatchy previously reported. While they once ranged from Texas to Louisiana and Arkansas, habitat destruction brought the wild cats close to extinction.

Many of the few left alive can be found in the Laguna Atascosa refuge, roughly 160 miles south of Corpus Christi.

Strouf feels lucky to have seen one in the wild.

“It feels surreal, like we won the lottery,” he said.

As the ocelot made its way across the road, a second smaller one emerged from hiding, photos show. The mother ocelot appears to have made the crossing first, then doubled back to get her kitten after seeing the coast was clear.

Together, they dashed to the other side and disappeared into the foliage.

“We were so excited and filled with joy it brought tears to our eyes. We still know how lucky we are, it was a dream come true,” Strouf said.

Strouf’s sighting was particularly lucky considering ocelots tend to be more active at night, Defenders of Wildlife said.

“The images of this ocelot family crossing the road are a powerful reminder that drivers must slow down and stay aware when traveling through Ocelot Country in South Texas,” said Sharon Wilcox, senior Texas representative for Defenders of Wildlife. “Vehicular collisions are the leading known cause of death for ocelots in Texas. Driver awareness and the construction of wildlife crossings to ensure safe passage for the cats can help to ensure the survival of these cats in Texas.”