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Order : CARNIVORA
Family : Felidae
Species : Neofelis nebulosa
Head-body length : 65-95 cm
Tail length : 55-80 cm
Weight : 15-23 kg
This beautiful wild cat
inhabits lowland primary and secondary forest. It is mainly nocturnal in
habits, but may be active during cooler parts of the day.
The species is arboreal but will often come to ground to make use of forest
tracks or, in heavily logged forest, to cross from one forest patch to
another.
Typically its base fur colour is a sandy, yellowish-brown but lighter and
darker forms may occur. The body is patterned with a complex,
arrangement of irregular dark-bordered 'cloud' shapes which are larger along
the flanks and smaller around the hind quarters. There is a series of thick,
dark stripes on the back of the neck.
The
Clouded Leopard is considered to be 'the smallest of the big cats' more
closely related to
larger species such as the true Leopard and
Tiger than smaller species,
such as the Mainland Leopard Cat .
Its head is relatively small to its body size, though the incisors are
large. The legs are relatively short and thick, and the tail is thick and
long.
Its diet comprises other mammals including small deer and pigs, primates and
other smaller mammals. They often ambush their prey by leaping down from
tree branches.
Within Southeast Asia the Clouded Leopard occurs in Myanmar, Thailand,
Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Peninsular Malaysia. Outside the region it
occurs in north-eastern India, including Nepal, and southern China.
A closely related species, the Sunda
Clouded Leopard, occurs in Sumatra and Borneo.
Figs 1 and 2 :
Trail camera images of a Clouded Leopard in
mixed forest and grassland habitat, and active in the afternoon at
Virachey National Park, Cambodia.
Photos
thanks to Greg McCann.
References :
Francis, C.M. 2019. A Field Guide to
the Mammals of South-east Asia. Second Edition. Bloomsbury Publishing.
416 pp. |
