Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa)

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First record of a clouded leopard predating on a binturong

Given their elusive nature, arboreal behaviour and dense forest habitat, the clouded leopard is a challenging species to study (Nowell & Jackson 1996). During a camera trap study (Clements 2013) investigating forest and road underpass use by large mammals in the selectively logged forests of an important corridor known as Primary Link age 7 in the state of Terengganu, Peninsular Malaysia, an adult male clouded leopard 
was photographed carrying a binturong in its jaws (Fig. 1). To our knowledge this is the first evidence of a binturong being predated upon by a clouded leopard.

The average body mass of an adult binturong is 15 kg (Grassman et al. 2005b), which falls within the weight range of recorded prey species that may be taken by cloudedleopards across their range (Grassman et al. 
2005a, Nowell & Jackson 1996). Encounters between both species are possible due to their semi-arboreal nature and overlapping activity patterns (Austin et al. 2007, Sunquist & Sunquist 2002, Rohznov 1994). 
Our report goes some small way in addressing the knowledge gap regarding the diet of the clouded leopard. There is an urgent need to understand their ecology and conservation status, as forest cover in Peninsular Malaysia has been reduced by more than half its original extent (Miettinen et al. 2011) and forest reserves are increasingly being converted to rubber plantations (Aziz et al. 2010).

*This image is copyright of its original author

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