Clouded
Leopard Conservation & Science Clouded Leopards
(Neofelis
nebulosa)
Listen now
Asia Trail bends like a horseshoe around a large tree
at the heart of the clouded leopard habitat. As you
walk up the gentle slope and come closer to the tree's
branches, look between the leaves—you might find
the piercing eyes of a clouded leopard.
 |
| Clouded leopards are named for their cloud-shaped markings. (Jessie Cohen/NZP) |
In Malaysia, this secretive cat is known as harimau dahan, meaning "branch tiger," because of its arboreal habits, which include leaping from limb to limb and napping on sturdy branches. On Asia Trail, children can practice their own leopard-like leaps on a Balance Branch built into the boardwalk.
Scientists know very little about clouded leopards' behavior in the wild and can only guess at their total population. They do know that poaching and habitat destruction threaten the species' long-term survival, so National Zoo scientists, along with colleagues in the U.S. and Thailand, continue to develop assisted-breeding methods to increase the number of clouded leopards in zoos.
Click through the slideshow at the clouded leopard Look Stations to learn more about National Zoo scientists' contributions to clouded leopard research and reproduction, from their work at the Zoo's Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, Virginia—where more than 70 clouded leopards have been born since 1978—to the studies they help conduct in Thailand.
Get to Know Clouded Leopards
- The IUCN lists clouded leopards as vulnerable, due to deforestation of their native habitat in south and Southeast Asia. Also, people hunt them for their beautiful pelts and for use in traditional medicines in China.
- Clouded leopards are named for the cloud-shaped markings on their fur. In China, they are called "mint leopards," because their markings are thought to resemble mint leaves.
- A clouded leopard's tail is nearly as long as its body, and helps it stay balanced as it jumps from one branch to another.
- No one is certain just how arboreal clouded leopards are. They may rest in trees in the daytime, thus avoiding the terrestrial leeches found in many Asian forests, but descend to the ground at dusk to hunt and mate.
- Clouded leopards have the largest canine teeth of all living cats relative to their body size.
- The long, sharp claws, large paws, and flexible ankle bones of clouded leopards give them such a firm grip that they can even hang upside down from tree branches.
ZooGoer 35(5) 2006. Copyright 2006 Friends of the National Zoo. All rights reserved.
