The first ever photographic evidence of a clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) predating on a Bengal slow loris (Nycticebus bengalensis) was captured in December 2024 in the Dehing Patkai National Park, Assam, according to an article in the Journal of Wildlife Sciences earlier this month. The image was from a camera trap set up by the Wildlife Institute of India in collaboration with the forest department. The camera trap finding contributes to the understanding of preferred prey species and diet of the clouded leopard, which is difficult to study because of the elusive nature of the animal.
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The photograph garnered widescale attention owing to the rarity of the event captured. The Assam Minister of Forest, Environment and Climate Change, Chandra Mohan Patowary, shared the picture on social media.
Dehing Patkai National Park harbours the longest stretch of tropical lowland rainforests in India. It was first declared a wildlife sanctuary in 2004 and then upgraded to a national park in 2021, the sixth in Assam. From 114.19 square kilometres, the area was doubled to 234.26 square kilometres. It is part of the larger Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve (937 square kilometres). Dehing Patkai National Park is divided into three ranges — Saraipung, Margherita and Jeypore. Saraipung and Margherita come under Digboi Forest Division while Jeypore comes under Dibrugarh Forest Division. The national park is the only protected forest in India which is home to eight wild cat species — tiger, common leopard, clouded leopard, fishing cat, golden cat, marbled cat, jungle cat, and leopard cat.
Bilal Habib, the principal investigator of the paper, told Mongabay India, “This finding made through camera trapping contributes to our understanding of predatory behaviour and diet, highlighting the significance of conservation efforts for both species.”
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The Dehing Patkai rainforest shelters several rare and endangered species. Image by Udayan Borthakur.
First-of-its-kind photograph
The photograph shows a clouded leopard carrying a Bengal slow loris by its nape and walking on a broad forest trail. It was captured on December 7, 2024, in the Saraipung range of Digboi forest division, about 1.1 kilometres from Tarajan tea estate and 2.5 kilometres away from the nearest human habitation.
The camera trap which captured the image was set up as part of a larger project to study the cat population in the national park. “For this project, the entire area was divided into small grids of 2 square kilometres each, and 95 camera traps were set up, both in-house and of WII,” explains Ranjith Ram, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Digboi Forest Division of Dehing Patkai National Park.
He shares that both clouded leopards and Bengal slow loris are elusive, as they are nocturnal and live on trees. “In fact, only one or two people in my patrol party have reported seeing clouded leopards. So, the fact that a single camera trap image captures both these animals is extremely significant,” he says.
Habib shares that there have been previous records of clouded leopards preying on the greater slow loris based on scat analysis in Thailand.
Clouded leopards are thought to have a diverse range of prey species, including small and medium sized ungulates, primates, porcupines, pangolins, birds, rodents and even domestic animals. But there is a significant lack of information regarding the cat’s preferred prey in the Indian landscape. This photographic record helps fill that gap. According to the article, “Considering the Bengal slow loris’ weight ranges around 850 to 2,100 grams and that it is arboreal and nocturnal, it is likely that clouded leopards in this area may target this species as relatively easy to hunt prey.”
An old camera trap image of a clouded leopard at Manas National Park, Assam. Image courtesy of Manas Tiger Reserve, Aaranyak, Panthera.
Clouded leopards of Assam
The clouded leopard is a medium sized felid and is categorised as ‘Vulnerable’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It is also listed under the CITES Appendix I, as it faces threats from poaching and the illegal wildlife trade.
“We are yet to do a proper population estimate of clouded leopards in Dehing Patkai but this landscape has good habitat for clouded leopards and it has a healthy population,” says B.V. Sandeep, DFO of Dibrugarh division.
Wildlife biologist Dr. Jimmy Borah, known for his work on wild cat species, told Mongabay India that apart from Dehing Patkai, clouded leopards are also found in Manas National Park, Nameri Wildlife Sanctuary and Karbi Anglong in Assam. “More than a decade ago, a population study was done in Manas which recorded 16-17 individuals. Since then, there has been no population study anywhere in the Northeast,” he shares. “There is a good population in Meghalaya, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh as well. We have heard about sightings from Nagaland and Tripura but can’t confirm it.”
He notes that clouded leopards face a major threat from poaching as illegal traders try to off their pelts as that of a tiger.
This article originally appeared on Mongabay. Read the original article here