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The Clouded Leopard
is one of the most beautiful animals on earth. It is named after the distinctive
'clouds' on its coat - ellipses partially edged in black, with the insides a
darker colour than the background colour of the pelt, and sometimes dotted with
small black spots. Pelt colour varies from tawny to silvery grey. Black and
pale, whitish individuals have been reported from Borneo. The limbs and underbelly
are marked with large black ovals, and the back of its neck is conspicuously
marked with two thick black bars. The Clouded Leopard's tail is thick and plush,
encircled with black rings, and very long, typically equivalent to head-body
length (up to 80-90 cm.) The now-extinct subspecies of Taiwanese Clouded Leopard
had a shorter tail of only 50-60cm.
Clouded Leopards are usually classified as one of the 7 'big' cats, but are often thought of as between the big cats and small cats. Despite the name, they are not relatively closely related to the 'real' Leopard. Clouded Leopards purr like any small cat.
Apart from its coat one of the other impressive things about the Clouded Leopard is its teeth. 3.8-4.5cm long, they are relatively the longest teeth of any cat, and sharp. This makes the Clouded leopard seem to have more in common with the prehistoric sabre-toothed cats than any other living cats do, but there is no evidence to support that Clouded Leopards evolved directly from sabre-toothed cats. The Clouded Leopard is so different from other cats that it is classed in its own genus, Neofelis, which means new cat.
Clouded Leopards have relatively short but muscular legs, pink noses and weigh 11-20kg. They are 75-105 cm long (body, 180cm total).
The Clouded Leopards' acrobatics in the trees are rivalled only by Margays. In Indonesia they are known as harimau dahan, which means tree branch tiger. It can run down tree trunks head-first, climb on horizontal branches with its back to the ground, and hang upside down from branches by its hind feet. Clouded Leopards can jump 5m between 2 trees. They have unusually long claws to help them grip trees, and the long tail helps in balance. As a bonus the clouded markings help camouflage it among the leaves. The Clouded Leopard is also a good swimmer and has been found on small islands it has swum to.
Clouded Leopards do some hunting in trees but mainly use them for resting. Mostly it rests in a tree at day and does most hunting at night. It hunts birds, monkeys, deer, small mammals, porcupine and wild boar.
Clouded
Leopards have 1-5 cubs, with an average of 3. The mother is thought to give
birth in a 'nest' of leaves in a tree. Cubs weigh 140-170g at birth and open
their eyes after 10-12 days. These are fully mature at 26 months of age, and
live up to 17 years.
Clouded Leopards mostly live in tropical rainforest but has been recorded in dry tropical forest, mangrove swamps and even up to 1450m in the Himalayas.
The
Clouded Leopard is secretive and shy and prefers to live in forest far from
humans. Of course this sort of habitat is becoming increasingly rare. It used
to live in India but is now thought to be extinct there, but occurs in South
East Asia in China, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma, Laos and in Borneo. It is protected
in all countries except Laos, although its habitat is not and forest clearance
is its greatest threat. It is so secretive it is difficult to determine its
population, but has been classed as Vulnerable. The next greatest threat is
illegal killing for its beautiful fur and teeth, as well as bones for Asian
medicines. One study found that Clouded Leopard skins were the most commonly
available cat skins in the black markets of China. Clouded Leopards have been
featured on the menu of restaurants in Thailand and China which cater to wealthy
Asian tourists.
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