Animal Info - Clouded Leopard
(Other Names: Engkuli, Gecho Bagh, Gui Ke Bao, Harimau Dahan,
He Ye Bao, Hso Awn, In Kya, Lamchita, Lamchitia, Macan Dahan, Nebelparder, Pantera del Himalaya, Pantera Longibanda,
Pantera Nebulosa, Panthère Longibande, Panthère Nébuleuse, Rikulau, Sena Laay
Mek, Shagraw Kai, Sua One, Thit Kyaung, Thit-tet Kya, Wu Yun Bao, Yun Bao)
Neofelis nebulosa
Contents
1. Profile (Picture)
2. Tidbits
3. Status and Trends (IUCN Status, Countries Where
Currently Found, Taxonomy, Population Estimates, Distribution, Threats)
4. Data on Biology and Ecology (Size
and Weight, Habitat, Age to Maturity, Gestation
Period, Birth Season, Birth Rate, Early Development, Dispersal, Maximum Reproductive Age, Maximum Age, Diet, Behavior, Social
Organization, Range)
5. References
Profile
Pictures: Clouded
Leopard #1 (25 Kb JPEG) (Fauves
du Monde); Clouded
Leopard #2 (29 Kb JPEG) (IUCN
Cat Spec. Gr.); Clouded
Leopard #3 (37 Kb JPEG) (AZA
Felid TAG); Clouded
Leopard #4 (79 Kb) (Terrambiente)
The clouded leopard looks like one of the "big cats" in miniature,
having the powerful, robust build of a large cat. It has a head
and body length of 82 - 99 cm (32 - 39") and weighs 11 - 19 kg
(24 - 42 lb). Its coat is grayish or yellowish, with dark markings
("clouds") in shapes such as circles, ovals, and rosettes. The
forehead, legs, and base of the tail are spotted, and the remainder of the tail
is banded. The tail is long, the legs are stout, and the paws are broad. The clouded leopard is most closely
associated with primary evergreen tropical rainforest, but it also makes use
of other types of habitat, such as relatively open, dry tropical forest, mangrove
forest, secondary and
logged forest, grassland and scrub.
The diet of the clouded leopard is thought to include a variety of arboreal
and terrestrial vertebrates,
such as orangutan,
young sambar deer, barking deer, mouse deer, bearded pig, palm civet, gray
leaf monkey, and porcupine. Fish, birds and poultry are sometimes taken.
The clouded leopard is highly adapted for an arboreal
life, but it has also been observed exhibiting terrestrial
behavior. Similarly, although it is generally considered to be primarily nocturnal,
it is sometimes also active during the daytime. The clouded leopard swims well
and has been found on small offshore islands. Clouded leopards are believed to
be solitary animals except during the breeding season.
The clouded leopard is found from
central Nepal in the eastern foothills of
the Himalayas through southern China and
most of southeast Asia to the islands of Sumatra (Indonesia)
and Borneo (Brunei,
Indonesia,
Malaysia). Little is known about its
status in any part of its geographic range, but recent records suggest a thin
but widespread distribution.
Deforestation, resulting from commercial logging and the growth of human
settlements, is thought to be the foremost threat to the clouded leopard. Not
only does deforestation remove the clouded leopard's own habitat,
but it reduces the number of prey animals. Hunting of this cat for its fur and teeth as
well as its bones, which are prized in the traditional Asian medicinal trade, is
another major
threat. The clouded leopard has also been featured on the menu of restaurants in
China and Thailand which cater to wealthy Asian
tourists, and it is sometimes persecuted for killing livestock.
Tidbits
*** Cat Tidbit #5: Cats have the most
highly developed binocular vision of all the carnivores. Their eyes are set well
forward and relatively high on the skull, allowing them to accurately judge
distances while leaping from branch to branch or pouncing on prey. (Sunquist &
Sunquist 2002) (See Cat
Tidbit #6.)
*** For its size, the clouded leopard has the longest canine teeth of any
living cat (Sunquist &
Sunquist 2002). Some call it the world’s only living saber-toothed
cat (Humphrey & Bain 1990).
*** In Malaysia, the clouded
leopard's local name means ‘branch-of-a-tree tiger' (Arkive 2005).
*** Clouded leopards are remarkably secretive creatures for their size (Nowell
& Jackson 1996).
Status and Trends
[The IUCN (International Union for the
Conservation of Nature; also called the World Conservation Union) is the world’s
largest conservation organization. Its members include countries, government
agencies, and non-governmental organizations. The IUCN determines the
worldwide status of threatened animals and publishes the status in its Red
List.]
Countries Where the Clouded Leopard Is Currently Found:
2005: Occurs in Bhutan, Brunei,
China, India,
Indonesia (Kalimantan, Sumatra), Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar,
Nepal, Thailand,
and Viet Nam. May be extinct in Bangladesh,
Cambodia and Taiwan.
(IUCN 2005)
Recent genetic analyses have lead to the proposal that all modern cats can be
placed into eight lineages which
originated between 6.2 - 10.8 million years ago. The clouded leopard is placed
in the "Panthera lineage,"
which diverged from its ancestors as a separate lineage
10.8 million years ago. The Panthera lineage
also includes the lion, the jaguar, the leopard, the tiger,
and the snow leopard. (Johnson
et al. 2006)
Population Estimates:
[Note: Figures given are for wild populations only.]
Distribution:
The clouded leopard is found in tropical and sub-tropical forests from
central Nepal in the eastern foothills of
the Himalayas through southern China and
most of southeast Asia to the islands of Sumatra (Indonesia)
and Borneo (Brunei,
Indonesia,
Malaysia). Little is known about its
status in any part of its geographic range, but recent records suggest a thin
but widespread distribution almost everywhere. Camera
trapping surveys conducted in several southeast Asian countries find the
clouded leopard to be relatively rare compared to other cat species. (Austin
& Tewes 1999, Sunquist
& Sunquist 2002, Choudhury 2003,
Arkive 2005, IUCN
2005)
Distribution
Map #1 (2 Kb GIF) (Big
Cats Online)
Distribution
Map #2 (135 Kb JPEG) (AZA
Felid TAG)
Threats:
Deforestation, resulting from commercial logging and the growth of human
settlements, is thought to be the foremost threat to the clouded leopard. Not
only does deforestation remove the clouded leopard's own shelter and habitat,
but it reduces the number of prey animals. As humans have increasingly
encroached on their habitats, these leopards have been known to prey on
livestock, which puts them at risk of being killed by the owners. Another major
threat is the hunting of this cat for its fur and teeth as
well as its bones, which are prized in the traditional Asian medicinal trade.
Clouded leopards have also featured on the menu of restaurants in China
and Thailand which cater to wealthy Asian tourists. (Arkive
2005, IUCN
2005)
Data on Biology and Ecology
The head and body length of female clouded leopards is 69 - 94 cm (27 -
37") (avg 82 cm (32")) (n = 4), while for males it is 81 - 108 cm
(32 - 43") (avg 99 cm (39")) (n = 5). Females weigh about 11 kg (24
lb) (n = 2), while males weigh 18 - 20 kg (40 - 44 lb) (avg 19 kg (42 lb)) (n
= 4). (Sunquist
& Sunquist 2002)
Habitat:
The clouded leopard is usually characterized as being most closely
associated with primary evergreen tropical rainforest, but it also makes use
of other types of habitat. Sightings have also been made in secondary and
logged forest, as well as grassland and scrub. In Myanmar
and Thailand, its presence has been
reported from relatively open, dry tropical forest. The clouded leopard has
also been recorded from mangrove
forest in Borneo. In China,
it apparently occurs in a variety of forest types, but there is no information
on habitat preference or ecology across this large portion of its geographic
range. It has been recorded in the Himalayan foothills up to 1450 m (4800'),
and possibly as high as 3000 m (9800'). (IUCN
2005)
The clouded leopard is found in the Himalaya,
Indo-Burma, and Sundaland
Biodiversity
Hotspots (Cons.
Intl. 2005).
Age to Maturity:
Clouded leopards reach sexual maturity by 20 - 30 months of age (Sunquist
& Sunquist 2002).
The gestation period ranges from 85 - 109 days, but 88 - 95 days seems more
typical (Sunquist &
Sunquist 2002).
Birth Season:
There is no evidence of a confined breeding season in the wild for the
clouded leopard (Humphrey & Bain
1990).
Birth Rate:
Litter size in captivity is 1 - 5 kittens, most often 3 (7 of 9 litters) (Nowell
& Jackson 1996). There is little information on the interbirth
interval of the clouded leopards because in captivity it is sometimes
necessary to remove kittens from the den shortly after birth for hand rearing,
and this may cause breeding to occur sooner than it would otherwise.
Of four examples in captivity, on two occasions the interbirth interval was about one
year, once it was about 16 months, and once 10 months (Sunquist
& Sunquist 2002).
Early Development:
Young captive clouded leopards begin to climb and show an interest in solid
food by 6 weeks and begin killing their own prey at 11 weeks. Weaning
occurs by about 80 - 100 days and
adult pelage appears by 6 months. (Tan
1996, Humphrey & Bain 1990)
Clouded leopard cubs achieve independence at nine months (Arkive
2005).
Maximum Reproductive Age:
12 - 15 years (captivity) (Nowell
& Jackson 1996).
Maximum Age:
A captive clouded leopard was still living at 19 years and 6 months (Nowak
1999).
Diet:
What little is known of the feeding ecology of the clouded leopard suggests
that it preys on a variety of arboreal
and terrestrial vertebrates.
In India it feeds on small deer and
other animals of similar size, including domestic stock such as goats and
pigs. Birds and poultry are sometimes taken. In Borneo
it is reported to prey on orangutans,
young sambar deer, barking deer, mouse deer, bearded pig, palm civet, gray
leaf monkey, fish and porcupine. (Sunquist &
Sunquist 2002)
Behavior:
It used to be thought that the clouded leopard was primarily arboreal.
On the one hand, there seems to be no question that its arboreal
abilities and adaptations are highly developed: the structure of its wrist
bones allows the clouded leopard to grip a tree trunk or branch in much the
same way as a squirrel does, it has been seen to run down tree trunks
head-first as few other cats can, it can move along horizontal branches while
hanging beneath them like a sloth, and it can hang upside down from branches
by its hind feet. (Nowell & Jackson 1996,
Seidensticker &
Lumpkin 1996, Sunquist & Sunquist 2002,
Arkive 2005) However,
reports from various studies provide different indications as to how arboreal
the clouded leopard really is:
- A study was conducted in Taiwan
by interviewing eyewitness who had seen a clouded leopard. In the 24
instances people remembered where it had been seen, 13 were in trees and
11 on the ground. (Rabinowitz
1988)
- Monitoring of a radio-collared
subadult male clouded leopard in Nepal
for 8 successive days indicated only terrestrial
behavior. It was frequently found resting in grasslands among dense
patches of the 4 - 6 m (13 - 20') tall grasses. (Dinerstein
& Mehta 1989)
- In a study in Sumatra, Indonesia
using photo-trapping, all but
one of the pictures of the clouded leopard were obtained with a camera set
to capture arboreal species (Holden
2001).
- A 1986 survey of villagers, timber workers, and forestry officials in
Sabah and Sarawak,
Malaysia, resulted in 161 first-hand
reports of clouded leopard sightings. Of all the sightings, 82 % were of
clouded leopards traveling on the ground, usually on roads and trails in
either primary or selectively logged secondary forest. The survey team
concluded that [in this area] clouded leopards were not truly arboreal,
but used trees in primary forest as daytime rest sites. (Sunquist & Sunquist 2002)
Literature is not conclusive concerning the daily activity patterns of
clouded leopards. Both older as well as some recent literature suggests that
the clouded leopard is strictly nocturnal
(Austin
& Tewes 1999). However, there are also reports that daytime
activity has been observed in the wild and in captive animals, indicating that
they are not strictly nocturnal (Sunquist & Sunquist 2002):
A study of two clouded leopards in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand
found that the female moved an average of 960 m/day (3100'/day) while the male
moved a slightly greater daily distance of 1080 m (3500') (Austin
& Tewes 1999). In the study in Thailand’s
Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary mentioned above, where 4 clouded leopards were radio-tracked,
the distances between consecutive-day locations for all four cats averaged
1900 m (6300') (range 120 - 7700 m/day (400 - 25,000'/day) (Grassman
et al. 2005)
Clouded leopards swim well and have been found on small islands off of Borneo
(Sabah, Malaysia) and Viet Nam
(Nowell
& Jackson 1996).
Clouded leopard young are reported to den in tree hollows, but nothing else
is known about rearing habits in the wild (Grassman
et al. 2005).
Social Organization:
Clouded leopards are believed to be solitary animals except during the
breeding season, when the males seek out the females (Arkive 2005).
In the Grassman et al.
2005 study mentioned above, each clouded leopard home
range overlapped a conspecific's
home range. The amount of overlap
occurring between males and females was 31% ± 28 SD
(11 - 83%). Overlap among male home
ranges was 31% and 47 %. (Grassman
et al. 2005)
Range:
Khao Yai National Park, Thailand:
For one female clouded leopard, the home
range was 33.3 sq km (12.8 sq mi), while a male used a home
range of 36.7 sq km (14.2 sq mi) (Austin
& Tewes 1999).
Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand:
Home ranges for two male clouded
leopards were 45.1 sq km (17.4 sq mi) and 29.7 sq km (11.5 sq mi); for two
females they were 25.7 sq km (9.9 sq mi) and 22.9 sq km (8.8 sq mi). (Grassman
2003)
References
Arkive 2005, Austin
& Tewes 1999, AZA Felid TAG, Choudhury
2003, Cons. Intl. 2005,
Dinerstein & Mehta 1989,
Fauves du Monde, Grassman
2003, Grassman et al. 2005,
Holden
2001, Humphrey
& Bain 1990, IUCN
2005, IUCN Cat Spec. Gr., Johnson
et al. 2006, Nowak
1999, Nowell & Jackson 1996,
Rabinowitz 1988, Santiapillai
1989, Seidensticker
& Lumpkin 1996, Sunquist & Sunquist 2002,
Tan, 1996, Terrambiente
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