Can anyone tell me if the Clouded Leopard still exists in Taiwan? They are such beautiful animals and I hope they are not extinct. Different people give me different information. Some say that hikers in Miaoli spotted one last year, and some website called Dawu: The Country of the Clouded Leopard (bird.org.tw/English/CONSERVA … awumt.html) says there is ‘ample evidence’ of the existence of a leopard population there. Other people say the last one is sitting in the Taipei Zoo feeling depressed and lonely. I’d like to hear any rumors, facts, blips, whatever. Thanks
The clouded leopard is probably extinct. If not, it is certainly a living extinction - that is, there are not enough of them to ensure the animal’s survival.
Here’s a good article
taiwanheadlines.gov.tw/20020 … 312s2.html
Almas John, thanks for the article. That’s exactly what I was looking for. Sad stuff, though. But there’s one thing I can’t understand: if Taiwan still has about 100 black bears in the wild, why wouldn’t there be even more clouded leopards, seing how they are faster and smaller than the black bear? Maybe there’s an obvious answer for this; I don’t know that much about wildlife, to be honest. On the website I mentioned previously, the author also mentions a Taiwanese otter -yes, an Otter- living in Taidong. Have you heard of this? Thanks again.
The government sponsored a workshop in 1995 to map out the options available for the future management of the Formosan clouded leopard. Issues discussed at the conference included, verifying the status of the species, habitat protection, and the possibility of introducing a sub-species. The link to the executive summary is here. - http://www.cbsg.org/reports/reports/exec_sum/clouded_leopard_phva.pdf
Yeah, I guess this information is a lot closer to the truth. Last weekend I was sitting at small restaraunt in Wulai talking to some aboriginals (over some rice wine) and they told me, without a moment’s hesitation, that there were between 1,200 - 2,000 clouded leopards roaming the mountains of Taiwan. He said this with total offhand conviction. This guy said that there’s a trail that leads from Wulai to Ilan that can be walked in 2 days and they can be seen on that trail, that you might even be attacked by one! Okay, the part about being attacked I made up myself, but he really said there were ‘thousands’ of them and he meant it. Maybe it was the xiao mejeou?
Horizontal crack wrote
A hundred bears is hardly a large number, a thin line between that and extinction.
Bears don’t need to be fast, the vast majority of their diet is made up of berries and nuts.
This is called getting “on the piss” and “talking bull”. These kinds of stories are told because they get a good response. The clouded leopard is not that large and leopard cats and feral cats are often to blame for these false sightings (not to mention the rice wine). Sorry to spoil a good story. Yeah, I’m a real killjoy around a campfire. 
Yes, Lutra lutra chinensis the Chinese Otter. Put the scientific name into a “google images” search and you’ll get a picture of the critter.
This area is infested with stray and wild dogs. If they aren’t killing local prey, then they would be killing and harassing any remaining leapords.
My guess is that they were killed for their fur and/or for trophies. With the destruction of the vast amount of deer that use to live in Taiwan, I honestly don’t see them getting enough prey of the right size to survive.
With dismay, I have to agree with Almas john’s assumption that the black bears are facing a living extinction, unless some serious program comes along to save them.
CYA
Okami
Me and Timogan were on a trail out past Wulai a couple of weeks ago and I swear we heard something close to the trail that sounded like a big cat growling. Didn’t see anything though.
Maybe it was just a large bullfrog.
I have hiked the Wulai to Yilan trail a number of times. It is quite tough depending on the time of year. Sadly, I never saw any large wild animals, except maybe my friends jumping in the streams and screaming.
Come on Sandman, you know it was a frog.
What surprised me on that hike was the presence of the monkeys. I’d never seen monkeys there before. You really do get a different perception of a trail when you walk it instead of brushcrashing on a mountain bike.
As far as packs of wild dogs out there, we’ve never seen any sign to suggest that. The only time I’ve seen dogs deep in the bush (Why is /bush being treated as a proper noun?) in Taiwan was when we met up with that local hunting party. Sandman, you’ve seen the video, a dozen or so dogs and one man with a musket.
As for being attacked by a large cat while walking in the forest, it’s much more likely to occur in my old stomping ground in the foothills of Sierra Nevada in Placer County than anywhere in Taiwan. It’s probably a good thing they don’t have spots. Having a beautiful coat does not seem to offer any advantages to animals on the brink of extinction.
I wonder what the distribution of leopard cats is in Taiwan? Could there be thousands of them?