Research overview: clouded leopard forest dependence and habitat loss in Asia

Clouded leopards are forest-dependent cats of Southeast Asia and the Himalayan foothills whose arboreal habits tie them closely to intact forest. This overview surveys their distribution, sensitivity to deforestation and fragmentation, and the threats from logging, plantation expansion, and hunting across their range. It reviews camera-trap research documenting their occurrence and the limited knowledge of their ecology. The synthesis frames the clouded leopard as a forest specialist among the cats most exposed to the rapid land-use change sweeping tropical Asia, illustrating how the loss and fragmentation of forest, the dominant near-term driver, threatens a secretive felid whose dependence on continuous canopy leaves it poorly suited to the converted, climate-stressed landscapes replacing its habitat.