Clouded Leopard

Shelter for Animal | Clouded Leopard | The Neofelis nebulosa is the most adorable medium-size predator in the world. Unfortunately, they also happen to be one of the most poached. Clouded leopards or cloudy’s are found across Asia from the Himalayas to the East Indies.

Clouded leopard animal

There are two distinct species of clouded leopards, Neofelis nebulosa which are found on the mainland, and Neofelis, or the Sunda clouded leopard which are found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Now for the tricky part, our clouded leopards considered big cats short answer not technically though what is and isn’t a big cat is hotly debated.

Big cat or not?

The term big cat typically refers to the four members of the Panthera genus that can roar lions, leopards, tigers, cheetah, and jaguars. Well, the term small cat refers to cats that can purr lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars have a flexible vocal box that allows them to make the loud distinct call. We know as a roar small cats, on the other hand, have rigid vocal boxes that can vibrate allowing them to purr.

Big cats can make a sound similar to purring but since they have a flexible vocal box it’s not a trooper some small cats can also make a sound similar to a roar but again because they have a rigid vocal box. It’s not a true roar the term big cat is even trickier because there are some big cats that are smaller than some small cats. Notably, the Arabian Leopard is typically smaller than snow leopards which aren’t technically big cats.

Size of Clouded leopard

Since big cat and small cat are not formal biological terms for sure this debate will weigh John Mayall cloudy’s are larger than females and weigh up to 16 kilos while the females weighed 13 kilos. They get their name from their gorgeous coats that look. Well, like clouds clouded leopards have the largest canine teeth proportional to the body size of any wild cat.

Length of big cat

Clouded leopard can measure up to four centimeters long which make them look like the closest living thing to Saber cats that we have unless of course, you count the Walrus the fat legless saber-toothed, Tigers of the sea but digress clouded leopards are largely arboreal and because of this, they have massive tails measuring just under a meter long or half their total body length.

Clouded leopard’s adaptations

Well, not prehensile they do use their tail to balance themselves as they stalk and chase prey from tree to tree they also come equipped with rotating ankles which allow them to climb down trees headfirst a must when chasing a pesky squirrel. They’re also capable of climbing upside down horizontally with their backs to the ground and if need be they can hang on with just their hind legs.

Cutest animals predator

They will often hunt prey in both trees and on the ground and they usually go after squirrels, slow lorises, hog, deer, porcupines, pangolins, monkeys, and the occasional red panda. Leave it to the cutest predator to have the cutest prey it will hunt in their territory of about 30 to 40 square kilometers but will typically focus on only a smaller area of 3 to 5 square kilometers with their larger range overlapping with other cloudy’s.

Clouded leopard habitat

They live primarily in evergreen tropical forests but have also been found living in dry and deciduous forests and they’ve been found living in altitudes of up to 3000 meters. Like other cats during mating, the males will bite the female’s neck and the female will make noises to signal for him to continue. However, since they have such massive canines.

There have been some instances of males accidentally killing the females by breaking their neck using their gigantic teeth females will just stay for three months before giving birth to between one and five kittens weighing only 250 grams, unfortunately, these amazing cats are poached very heavily and their population has decreased by 30% in the past 60 years.

Clouded leopard endangered

There are only 10,000 Clouded leopard species remaining in the wild due to tiger populations dwindling from similar causes poachers have turned their eyes towards them, in the last couple of years they have taken a big hit. They are poached primarily for the fur and their bones claws feet and skull are used in traditional Asian medicine and recently there has been a boom of life. Clouded leopards being sold into the exotic pet trade. Clouded leopards are one of the most beautiful animals in the world.

Reference: Wikipedia