clouded leopard

[squirl033]

another shot from the Point Defiance zoo yesterday. the zoo has one of the most successful breeding programs in the world for the endangered clouded leopard. this small "big cat" is native to southeast Asia, and is threatened by habitat destruction and poaching, and there are thought to be less than 10,000 total remaining in the wild. but with protection and efforts to breed more cats in captivity, its numbers will hopefully begin to increase again... this is a juvenile, one of the cubs born this past spring. at maturity, he will probably be about 3 feet long not counting his tail, about 20" tall at the shoulder, and weigh between 35 and 50 lbs. 5D2, 24-1305 @ 105mm, 1/50 @ f/8, ISO 1600, shot through tinted glass...

 

[Bill Anderson]

Good shot. Too bad he wasn't yawning, as I have heard that they have the longest fangs of the wild cats.

I love cats, both wild and domestic. They say a house cat is domesticated as long as its paws aren't touching grass.

 

[squirl033]

"They say a house cat is domesticated as long as its paws aren't touching grass."

that sounds about right... "domestic" cats are actually responsible for killing more different animals, in greater numbers, than any other member of the cat family! when you consider birds, rodents, insects, and whatever else Fluffy can catch and eat, i'm not surprised!

 

[fiznatty]

I hope to see one in the wild some day. I visited Borneo a couple years back, but there's usually a very remote chance of seeing one in the wild. Though since then I've had clients that have told me they "saw them every night" there, so I must've been looking in the wrong places!

Max

 

[squirl033]

Max, i can only dream of visiting any place where these beautiful cats live wild! but there aren't that many left, and i suspect those that remain are rather leery of humans... they're native to SE Asia, so there are a number of possible places, from Borneo to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, etc...