IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ (Red List) Assessment
This wild cat is classified as Vulnerable. The term “vulnerable” means that the Clouded Leopard faces a high risk of extinction in the wild. IUCN criteria sets out to evaluate the risk of extinction of species. As a result of the vulnerability of this animal, trade in body parts is banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). This does not actually stop the trade. It is more a declaration of intent. Enforcement of the ban on hunting and trade is poor.
This cat is highly arboreal. The cat is built to live in the trees. The reasons for this classification are these threats:
- deforestation at the fastest rate in the world – 10% in last 10 years
- prolific level of hunting in China to extinction perhaps
- the ever-present body parts trade – skin and bones
- population declining
- population at less than 10,000 worldwide
Photo above by Mickey Bohnacker, Presse-Fotograf, Frankfurt/Main. Published under Wikimedia commons license. It is released into the public domain in fact.
Above – an example of animal body parts for sale – by erik.w.davis (new window).
Range, Habitat and Ecology
This Clouded leopard occupies these countries:
- Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Taiwan (extinct), Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma)
- Singapore (extinct)
- Southern China (extinct?)
- Eastern Himalayas (Nepal, Bhutan)
- Northeast India and Bangladesh
- Brunei Darussalam
- Cambodia
- Indonesia (Kalimantan, Sumatera)
- Lao People’s Democratic Republic
- Thailand
Above – range of Clouded leopard published under a Wikipedia license. The map above gives the impression that the range is unbroken. However, The Red List map is more accurate and shows greater fragmentation. I have prepared a map using Google My Maps that shows the range of both species of clouded leopard:
View Clouded Leopard Range in a larger map
