SIze, Coat and Habitat

• The big cat family consist of lions, tigers, leopards and jaguars. Leopards are the smallest members of the this family. Clouded leopard males weigh up to 50 pounds. Females are much smaller, between 25 and 35 pounds. The coat is usually beige or yellow-brown, with dark clouded spots. This color combination is perfect for hiding in the tropical rain forest. Clouded leopards can be found in tropical rain forests, open forests and swamps. They live in Asia, primarily in the Himalayan foothills, Burma, Sumatra, Borneo, Taiwan and China.
  
  

Legs and Claws

• Cats love to climb trees, and clouded leopards are the best climbers in the cat family. They have been seen climbing upside down on the underside of tree branches. Their short legs help clouded leopards climb. Clouded leopards can hang from branches with their back legs, and their sharp claws help them get a good grip. The clouded leopard's tail is long, up to 3 feet, and the cat uses it for balance. A clouded leopard climbs down from a tree head first, while most cats back down from a tree.
  
  

Teeth

• Clouded leopards have sharp teeth, which are very large in proportion to their body size. The clouded leopard has a skull similar to that of the extinct sabre-toothed cat, which also had long, sharp teeth. Clouded leopards hunt mainly during the night, and they pounce on prey such as deer, goats, wild pigs, reptiles and birds. They like to chase monkeys through the treetops. Because clouded leopards are active mainly at night, they are difficult to study in the wild.
  
  

Illegal Uses

• Deforestation and illegal hunting has led to a decline in the number of clouded leopards. Their skins are often sold, and other parts of the leopard's body are used in a traditional Chinese medicine. However, it is illegal to trade or use body parts of clouded leopards and other endangered species.
  
  

Baby Clouded Leopards

• Clouded leopards are bred in zoos around the world with the hope of reintroducing them into the wild. It is difficult to breed clouded leopards in a zoo, but some clouded leopards have given birth to cubs. Clouded leopards usually give birth to between one and five cubs per litter. The cubs are blind for the first two week, and they lack teeth. They also are unsteady on their feet and wobble around for the first couple for weeks.