Clouded Leopard--Little Big Cat in Peril

Adopt a Clouded Leopard!

When you hear “big cats,” which do you think of?

A. Lions
B. Tigers
C. Clouded leopards

Most people would pick A and B. Few people even know about clouded leopards.

At 25 to 50 pounds, the clouded leopard is the smallest of the “big cats.” It has the body size and shape of small cats but the teeth and skull structure of the big ones. DNA evidence suggests that its closest relative may be the extinct saber-tooth cat of North America. Also, the clouded leopard has the largest canine teeth of all living cats relative to body size—just like the saber-tooth cat in its day. Not bad ancestry!

Named for the cloud-like spots that provide camouflage in its forest habitat, the clouded leopard ranges from the countries of the Himalayas, southern China, peninsular Malaysia and Indo-China, Sumatra, and Borneo. It is thought to be extinct in Taiwan and possibly Nepal. There's a question about whether the clouded leopard is an arboreal species—strongly tied to dense tropical evergreen forest—or a terrestrial hunter hunts on the ground and now often uses roads and trails in logged forests. The answer is probably somewhere in between—the clouded leopard can hunt both in trees and on the ground. While there are no firm population estimates, fewer than 10,000 of these cats are thought to remain in the wild, and they are considered to be in decline throughout their range.
The clouded leopard is highly adapted to life in the trees.

Agile Climbers
The clouded leopard is one of the best climbers in the cat family. It can climb a branch upside down and descend from a tree head-first like a squirrel. It has some pretty amazing adaptations for life in the trees—short and stout legs for leverage, a low center of gravity, large paws with sharp claws for gripping, a long tail for balancing, and flexible ankle joints in its hind feet for rotation. Clouded leopards are opportunistic predators, hunting a variety of arboreal and terrestrial animals such as birds, monkeys, pigs, cattle, goats, porcupine, and deer.

Clouded Facts

* The Lukai people of Thailand believe that the clouded leopard is their spiritual ancestor who led them to their homeland.
* Litters of two to five young are born after a gestation period of 86 to 93 days. Clouded leopards reach sexual maturity in one year.
* Clouded leopards have been known to live up to 17 years in captivity.
* The strongest population of clouded leopards appears to be that in Borneo, possibly because it lacks leopards and tigers, which compete with the smaller cat for space and prey.

Survival in Jeopardy
In the 1960s and early 1970s, the popularity of garments made from pelts of leopards and other spotted cats prompted concern that they could be hunted to extinction. Under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a treaty enacted in the mid-1970s, international trade in spotted cats (including clouded leopards), their pelts, and body parts was banned. This initiative proved successful in reducing trade in spotted cats and their products.
The majority of captive clouded leopards are genetically valuable, wild-born animals which have been donated to zoos or confiscated from poachers.

However, in recent years, illegal trade has become a renewed threat to the spotted cats of Asia where their pelts are now sought as luxuries, prestige symbols, and clothing. Leopard bones are used in traditional Asian medicine and are sometimes prescribed as substitutes for tiger bones for the treatment of rheumatic diseases. Ironically, actions to control the trade in tiger parts may have actually increased pressure on other cats, including the clouded leopard. Clouded leopard has even appeared on the menu of restaurants in Thailand and China serving wealthy tourists. The cat's future is also jeopardized by the conversion of its forest habitat to agriculture, poisoning by villagers wishing to eliminate predators that attack their livestock, and losses of prey species to human consumption.

Keeping the Cat Away from the Brink
The clouded leopard is one of the most endangered of the 37 cat species. International conservation organizations like the World Wildlife Fund are pursuing a variety of initiatives to help ensure the clouded leopard and other Asian spotted cats a future in the wild. Two noteworthy projects include:

* Monitoring illegal trade in cat bones and other body parts.
* Increasing legal protections for these cats and improving enforcement.

Zoos worldwide are trying to preserve the genetic diversity of the species through captive breeding and research. Clouded leopards present a challenge because of the high incidence of aggression between males and females, making the species one of the most difficult to breed in captivity. To address this problem, captive management practices now recommend the introduction of paired males and females prior to one year of age. This seems to result in better bonding and less aggression. Other problems in captive populations in North America have been high infant mortality, limited breeding even between known pairs, and diminishing genetic diversity.

The National Zoo Joins an International Conservation Effort
Scientists at the National Zoo are pioneers in cat reproductive biology, including cutting-edge technologies to protect and preserve cats' genetic diversity. Animal-care staff at the Zoo's Conservation and Research Center (CRC) in Front Royal, Virginia, are experts in breeding clouded leopards. More than 70 have been born at this facility. Drawing on this expertise, the Zoo is collaborating with the Nashville Zoo, the American Zoo and Aquarium Association's Clouded Leopard Species Survival Program, and a group of zoos in the Thailand to establish the Clouded Leopard Consortium. This initiative seeks to create a world-class center to improve captive breeding success and nutrition for the cats, increase knowledge about the species, and build conservation know-how in Thailand.
Day-old clouded leopards born in a Thailand zoo. These captive-born cubs were the result of careful handling and expert knowledge brought together in the Clouded Leopard Consortium.

At Thailand's Khao Kheow Open Zoo, the consortium currently has a captive population of 28 clouded leopards. Since its work began in 2002, scientists have discovered that imbalanced diets and stress associated with inappropriate housing are related to poor reproduction of clouded leopards in breeding programs. Based on these findings, the program's clouded leopards were moved from small, stress-inducing enclosures to large, vegetation-rich ones with nest boxes, and they were given a more balanced diet. To date, these efforts have been rewarded with nine clouded leopard cubs, suggesting that the consortium's multidisciplinary approach may serve as a model for other cat breeding and management programs.

CRC currently has a population of 11 clouded leopards. Some of these animals are now quite old. These cats participate in various health and reproduction studies at CRC. In addition, CRC's clouded leopards are involved in a number of management studies focused on reducing their stress levels in captivity.

This little-known leopard will be introduced to millions of visitors at the National Zoo in a state-of-the-art exhibit on the Zoo's Asia Trail scheduled to open in spring 2006. This exhibit will take visitors up close for a treetop view of two young clouded leopards. Visitors will have a chance to see them bounce from limb to limb and take a nap up in the branches. The exhibit area will offer two "Look Stations" at which visitors can click their way through Viewmaster-like slideshows that tell stories of Zoo conservation science. Another exhibit element will introduce the clouded leopard's special adaptations to its environment in the wild. Video of clouded leopards in Thailand, touchable objects, and other sensory elements will be incorporated into this "How to Read a Clouded Leopard" exhibit. Finally, a balance branch built right into the exhibit's decking will give children a chance to run along thin "tree branches," testing their balance against the animals'.

Adopt a Leopard!
The clouded leopard has not fared well over the last century. However, thanks to diverse international conservation efforts, technological discoveries, and greater public awareness about the cat and its needs, it has a greater chance to survive. Adopt a clouded leopard and help support the Zoo's important conservation programs for this “little big cat,” as well as exhibit improvement, equipment, and medical care for these endangered felines and the 2,600 other animals that live at the National Zoo and CRC.