Clouded Leopard(Neofelis nebulosa)

The scientific name of the clouded leopard is Neofelis nebulosa. It is one of two members of the genus Neofelis, and is classified under the family Felidae. It was first described by the British zoologist Edward Griffith in 1821. The other member of this genus is the Sunda clouded leopard (N. diardi), which was considered a subspecies of the clouded leopard until 2006. The clouded leopard is part of the Panthera lineage, one of the eight lineages of Felidae. This lineage comprises the species of Panthera and Neofelis. The Neofelis species diverged first from the lineage, followed by the snow leopard. Genetic analysis of hair samples of the two Neofelis species indicates that they diverged 1.4 million years ago, after having used a now submerged land bridge to reach Borneo and Sumatra from mainland Asia. Subsequent branching in the lineage is disputed. Broadly, two different cladograms have been proposed for the Panthera lineage. The clouded leopard is considered to form an evolutionary link between the big cats and the small cats. It represents the smallest of the big cats, but despite its name, it is not closely related to the leopard.

                                       Characteristics

The fur of clouded leopards is of a dark grey or ochreous ground-colour, often largely obliterated by black and dark dusky-grey blotched pattern. There are black spots on the head, and the ears are black. Partly fused or broken-up stripes run from the corner of the eyes over the cheek, from the corner of the mouth to the neck, and along the nape to the shoulders. Elongated blotches continue down the spine and form a single median stripe on the loins. Two large blotches of dark dusky-grey hair on the side of the shoulders are each emphasized posteriorly by a dark stripe, which passes on to the foreleg and breaks up into irregular spots. The flanks are marked by dark dusky-grey irregular blotches bordered behind by long, oblique, irregularly curved or looped stripes. These blotches yielding the clouded pattern suggest the English name of the cat. The underparts and legs are spotted, and the tail is marked by large, irregular, paired spots. Females are slightly smaller than males.

Their irises are usually either greyish-green or brownish-yellow in color. Their legs are short and stout, with broad paws. They have rather short limbs compared to the other big cats, but their hind limbs are longer than their front limbs to allow for increased jumping and leaping capabilities. Their ulnae and radii are not fused, which also contributes to a greater range of motion when climbing trees and stalking prey.

Melanistic clouded leopards are uncommon. Clouded leopards weigh between 11.5 and 23 kg (25 and 51 lb). Females vary in head-to-body length from 68.6 to 94 cm (27.0 to 37.0 in), with a tail 61 to 82 cm (24 to 32 in) long. Males are larger at 81 to 108 cm (32 to 43 in) with a tail 74 to 91 cm (29 to 36 in) long. Their shoulder height varies from 50 to 55 cm (20 to 22 in).

They have exceptionally long, piercing canine teeth, the upper being about three times as long as the basal width of the socket. The upper pair of canines may measure 4 cm (1.6 in) or longer. They are often referred to as a “modern-day sabre-tooth” because they have the largest canines in proportion to their body size, matching the tiger in canine length. The first premolar is usually absent, and they also have a very distinct long and slim skull with well-developed occipital and sagittal crests to support the enlarged jaw muscles.

                                Distribution and habitat

Clouded leopards occur from the Himalayan foothills in Nepal and India to Myanmar, Bhutan, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Indochina, and in China south of the Yangtze River. They are regionally extinct in Taiwan. Clouded leopards prefer open- or closed-forest habitats to other habitat types. They have been reported from relatively open, dry tropical forest in Myanmar and in Thailand.

In 2009, a few clouded leopards were sighted in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of south-eastern Bangladesh.Clouded leopards are mainly found in Kassalong Reserve of Rangamati-Khagrachory and Sangu Reserve forest in Banderban, all situated in Chittagong Hill Tracts. Few also remain in Kaptai National Park in Rangamati. Other than Chittagong Hill Tracts, there has been one sighting in Mymenshing in 2004, Mid East of Bangladesh and one uncertain report in North East Bangladesh.

In India, they occur in Assam, northern West Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura. In the Himalayas, they were camera-trapped at altitudes of 2,500–3,720 m (8,200–12,200 ft) between April 2008 and May 2010 in the Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve, Sikkim.

Clouded leopards were thought to be extinct in Nepal since the late 1860s. But, in 1987 and 1988, four individuals were found in the central part of the country, close to Chitwan National Park and in the Pokhara Valley. These findings extended their known range westward, suggesting they are able to survive and breed in degraded woodlands that previously harboured moist subtropical semideciduous forest. Since then, individuals have been recorded in the Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park and in the Annapurna Conservation Area.