Fun Facts About Clouded Leopards

The clouded leopard is a large Asian wild cat that grows to almost 6 feet, nose to tail, with the tail making up almost half the length. These long tails help the cats to climb and with agility when jumping between trees. It is a rare species and is listed as vulnerable due in most part to hunting by humans for their skins.

  1. Physical Facts

    • The clouded leopard, in relation to its head and jaw size, has the largest canine teeth of any cat. Its canine teeth can grow to over 1 1/2 inches in length. Because of their large size, there is generally a gap between these teeth and the cat's molars. Size difference between males and females is also unique in this species, with male cats being over twice as large as females. This is the largest gender size difference of all cat species. The large, powerful paws and claws of the clouded leopard are also so strong that the cat can hang upside down from branches using its back paws. The tail is also the longest in relation to body size of any living cat species.

    Range and Habitat Facts

    • The clouded leopard lives in southeast Asia, probably originating on the mainland. This cat's swimming ability has likely led to it also being found on some of the Islands off of Borneo and Vietnam. The leopards tend to live in forested areas, using their superior climbing ability to move through trees with great agility. The cats can descend a tree trunk face first and shuffle along the underside of a branch upside down.

    Hunting Facts

    • Clouded leopards, like all cats, are carnivores and feed on a wide variety of animals. The cat's agility within trees means that it can hunt in them. Various monkeys and birds are generally targeted when hunting in the trees. Ground prey include small deer, wild boar, small mammals and sometimes domestic animals. The cats tend to be more tree-dwelling in areas where their larger cousins, leopards and tigers, also live.

    Life Cycle Facts

    • The cats in the wild live solitary lives and only meet up to breed. The mating process has not been witnessed in the wild. Captive breeding has shown that males often become too aggressive during mating and can accidentally kill the much smaller females while trying to grip the back of their necks. Kittens are born with the same tan and dark spotted coloration as their parents, but the spots are almost solid black, not dark brown like in adults.

    Mixed Messages

    • The clouded leopard is a mix between small cats, like domestic cats, and large cats, such as lions. When it comes to sounds, the animals purr and meow like small cats but also roar like large cats do. The eyes are also confusing, because the pupils are neither rounded like large cats' eyes nor vertical slits like in small cat species. They are instead a combination of the two and are a permanent oblong shape. The clouded leopard's size is also in between a small cat species and a large cat species, although scientifically, it is classed alongside large cats such as tigers, lions and other leopards.