Perhaps it’s time to read some of the most interesting clouded leopard facts for kids. The clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) is a small cat which is mainly found in the Southeast Asia including China. The leopard primarily makes home in the foothills of Himalaya. The overall population of a clouded leopard is likely to be threatened due to poaching and human hunting. It is also the state animal of Meghalaya, an Indian state. Let us get down to bornean clouded leopard facts.
Clouded Leopard 🐆Facts for Kids
Edward Griffith, a British zoologist, was the first person who described clouded leopard back in 1821.
Size and Weight: Adult clouded leopards weigh 24 – 51 pounds. The overall length of a female is about 68.6 to 94 cm with a 61 to 82 cm long tail.
Mature males grow 81 to 108 cm in head-body length with their tail averaging at 74 to 91 cm. The shoulder height of a leopard is about 50 to 55 cm.
Clouded leopards have 4 cm long canines.
Where do clouded leopards live? The preferred habitats of a clouded leopard are open and closed forests. The leopard is less likely to thrive in open and dry tropical forests.
There are three subspecies of clouded leopard: N. n. Nebulosa, N. n. macrosceloides, and N. n. brachyura.
They are found in India, Nepal, southeastern Bangladesh, China, Thailand, Bhutan, Singapore, and the Himalayan foothills of Taiwan.
What do clouded leopards eat? The clouded leopard is a carnivore. It eats hog deer, Malayan pangolin, slow loris, brush-tailed porcupine, and Indochinese ground squirrel.
True to its name, the leopard has a cloudlike coat which is mostly covered with dark to grey patterns. The dark patches are quite visible all over its body and head.
Description: Clouded leopard has greyish-green eyes. It has short but robust legs. The leopard’s paws are broader and their rear limbs are longer than their front limbs—probably an adaptation to jump higher.
The leopard is thought to climb up the trees quite efficiently and stalk their prey even if it gets into the woods. That is to say that clouded leopards are the most expert climbers of all cats.
They live and hunt alone. Clouded leopards mostly become active at night.
Clouded Leopard Reproduction: The mating season ranges from December to March. The female gives birth to 1 to 5 cubs although 3 cubs are most common. The leopard cubs weigh 4.9 – 9.9 pounds at birth. The cubs become independent when they reach 10 months age.
Clouded leopards have a range of vocalizations such as growling, moaning, snorting, hissing, and mewing.They will also produce sounds such as chuff and purr.
Lifespan: The clouded leopard lives as long as 11 years in the captivity. The maximum lifespan is recorded at 17 years.
Population: The overall population of a clouded leopard is about 10,000 in the wild. The IUCN has listed it as a Vulnerable species.
