Bornean Clouded Leopard – The Liminal
Keywords: Rainforest wisdom. Elusive wisdom. Be prepared to travel to seek knowledge. Look at the canopy. Tree climbing. Learn to be limber in mind and spirit. Retreating to the shadows. Shadow magic. Bridges between the known and unknown worlds, the understood and misunderstood worlds. The liminal. Liminality.
Description: The Bornean clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi borneensis) is a medium-sized stocky native wild cat native to the island of Borneo and is a subspecies of the Sunda clouded leopard. They have been found in lowland rainforests, mixed dipterocarp forest and other forests. Bornean clouded leopards have a distinctive cloudy pattern on their coat. They have a long tail that assists with balance, and are excellent climbers, they are dependent on arboreal habitats to survive. They primarily eat primates, deer, pigs, mammals, birds and reptiles.
Bornean clouded leopards are predominantly nocturnal, with a large home range. They primarily hunt on the ground. They are capable of purring. They are solitary creatures, and only sparsely populate a region. Overall their behaviours are unknown because they are secretive and cryptic in nature. Recognised as its own subspecies in 2007, it was found that the pattern of the coat, shape of skull and dentition was different enough to distinguish it from the Sumatran clouded leopard. As with other clouded leopards, it has the longest teeth of any of the wild cats. Bornean clouded leopards are vulnerable, threatened by habitat destruction, hunting and poaching, as well as being restricted to an island habitat.