Clouded Leopard Caught in Chicken Coop

Despite the clouded leopard's rarity and secretive nature, there are occasional reports of sightings. One of the most unusual cases of a clouded leopard coming into contact with people occurred early last month. On January 4, an adult male clouded leopard looking for a meal was found in a chicken coop in Chepor, Malaysia. Wildlife officials from the Perak Department of Wildlife and National Parks captured the cat and brought it to their headquarters. Quoted in a report in Malaysia's The Star newspaper, Parks director Shabrina Mohd Shariff (pictured) said, 'We presume the cat was driven out of its habitat to look for food because of encroachment into its surroundings.' Shabrina said this was the second such cat caught by the department in the last three months. 'The last one we caught in Kampung Sungai Budak, Kuala Dipang, in November, was a female cat which was much smaller. This one weighs about 15kg and measures 1.2m long from head to tail,' she said. The clouded leopard was taken to the Malacca Zoo. This action provoked some controversy in the region from those who preferred seeing the clouded leopard released back into the wild.