Asia Trail Photo Gallery 
Clouded Leopard Times Two
Clouded Leopard—Little Big Cat in Peril
Celebrate the March 24 birth of two clouded leopard cubs by adopting a clouded leopard through the Adopt a Species program! Your adoption will support the continued success of the National Zoo's Conservation and Research Center (CRC) in Front Royal, VA. Learn more.
About the Clouded Leopard
At 25 to 50 pounds, clouded leopards are the smallest of the big cats. They have the body size and shape of small cats but the teeth and skull structure of the big ones. Clouded leopards have the largest canine teeth of all living cats relative to body size.
Named for the cloud-like spots that provide camouflage in their forest habitat, clouded leopards range from the countries of the Himalayas, southern China, peninsular Malaysia and Indo-China, Sumatra, and Borneo. They are thought to be extinct in Taiwan and possibly Nepal. In 2006, scientists determined that the clouded leopards living on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo are a distinct species, called Neofelis diardi. Those from mainland Asia and Taiwan are called Neofelis nebulosa, but the species may be extinct in Taiwan. The Zoo's species, and the one found in almost all zoos, is N. nebulosa. Learn more.
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| The clouded leopard is highly adapted to life in the trees. |
Clouded leopards are one of the best climbers in the cat family, and can hunt in trees as well as on the ground. They can climb a branch upside down and descend from a tree head-first like a squirrel. These cats have impressive 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 the 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.
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.
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| 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. 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.
At the Zoo
The National Zoo is home to two clouded leopards - a male named Tai and a female named Mook. They live in a state-of-the-art exhibit on the Zoo's Asia Trail that gives visitors an up-close treetop view of the pair.
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 2,000 other animals that live at the National Zoo and CRC.
Because your contribution is dedicated to animal care, you truly make a difference!
Photos by Jessie Cohen/NZP
