Sunda clouded leopard facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sunda clouded leopardTemporal range: early Pleistocene to Recent
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| Sunda clouded leopard in eastern Sabah, Malaysia | |
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| Neofelis diardi (G. Cuvier, 1823)
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The Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi), also known as the Bornean clouded leopard, is a wild cat. It lives on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo in Southeast Asia. This amazing cat is a special kind of clouded leopard. Scientists have even filmed it in the wild!
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About the Sunda Clouded Leopard
The Sunda clouded leopard is the biggest wild cat found on the island of Borneo. It usually weighs between 12 and 25 kilograms (26 to 55 pounds). That's about as heavy as a medium-sized dog!
What Makes Them Special?
These leopards have very long canine teeth. Their teeth can be up to two inches long. This is longer, compared to their body size, than any other living wild cat!
Their tail is also very special. It can be as long as their whole body! This long tail helps them keep their balance. It's like a balancing pole when they run, jump, and climb through trees.
Where Do They Live?
In Borneo, Sunda clouded leopards mostly live in lowland rainforests. These are warm, wet forests close to sea level.
On the island of Sumatra, they seem to prefer living in hilly or mountain areas. Scientists are not sure if these leopards still live on the small Batu islands, which are close to Sumatra.
How Scientists Classify Them
For a long time, scientists thought all clouded leopards were the same species. But in December 2006, they learned something new. They found that the Neofelis group of cats actually has two different species:
- Neofelis nebulosa: This species lives on the mainland of Asia.
- Neofelis diardi: This is the Sunda clouded leopard, which lives on Borneo and Sumatra.
Scientists even think that the Sunda clouded leopards on Borneo and Sumatra might be different enough to be their own special types, called subspecies.
Images for kids
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Illustration published 1834 in William Jardine's The Natural History of The Feline
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Deforestation in Sumatra
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See also
In Spanish: Pantera nebulosa de Borneo para niños
