Page 28 - LIN.FEBWEBSITE

YOUR SWEET TOOTH’S

CONNECTION

to Asia’s Long-Toothed Cat

by Tim L. Tetzlaff
Naples Zoo Director of Conservation
C louded leopards have the distinction of having the

longest canines for their body size of any cat - about
the same length as felines many times their size. But
these toothy wonders pose no threat to people. On the other
hand, our taste in sweets – along with about half our packaged
goods – does pose a threat to these elegant cats. Luckily, there’s
an app for that.
THE CATS IN QUESTION

Clouded leopards live in the dense forests of Southeast
Asia – think of the jungles from Lara Craft: Tomb Raider.
Weighing between 25 and 50 pounds, these Asian felines are
wonderfully agile in those trees aided by a long, heavy tail for
balance. They can climb upside down like a sloth and even
use their flexible ankle joints to hang by their back legs. On
the ground or in the trees, their cloud-like spots provide ideal
camouflage as they hunt animals like birds, deer, and monkeys.
At Naples Zoo, we recently welcomed two juvenile
clouded leopards. They can be seen on Tuesdays, Thursdays,
and weekends in their newly renovated home. (In our vacation
spot, a time share is only natural so on Mondays, Wednesdays,
and Fridays, you can still see our spotted leopard there.) As
clouded leopards are classified as Vulnerable to extinction
by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature
(IUCN), these two cats were selected for breeding by the
Species Survival Plan® coordinated by the Association of
Zoos and Aquariums.

LIPSTICK AND LEOPARDS?

Although they are protected by national law in many
countries and given the highest level of protection by the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
(CITES), clouded leopards are in decline. Surprisingly, what

28 Life in Naples | February 2017