What is a good way to lure animals / mobs into big holes/traps?

Not very cheap, but it's a good tactic: combine some pressure plates together with dispensers filled with arrows or snowballs.

That way, whenever mobs get near the hole, the dispenser will fire at the mob, hopefully pushing it into the hole.

They still seem to like to swim, so you could make some Water Traps - or any running water, maybe combined with a waterfall, into your pit.

If you want to lure animals, you need to use their breeding mechanics.

If you want to lure sheep, cows, and mooshrooms, use wheat.

If you want to lure pigs, use carrots.

If you want to lure chickens, use wheat seeds.

However, luring wolves and ocelots, first you gotta tame them.

Taming wolves is easy, all you have to do you use some skeleton bones.

Taming ocelots is a bit harder, because the ocelot will run away if you move your head or body a lot, it will run away, setting it to F8 mode will help a little bit.

Then to lure wolves and ocelots, just simply walk once you've tamed them and they will follow you around and stuff like that.

NPC Villagers

Villagers do not have a food item; they will breed of their own accord (and in their own time) depending on the available houses, or at least "registered doors". The only possible way to lure villagers is to get a few zombies to chase them into holes, while doing this, you may end up getting a few zombies in the trap too.