EXTINCT: FORMOSAN CLOUDED LEOPARD

(photo: Elministerio.org.mx)

“When the last tree is cut, when the last river has been poisoned, when the last fish has been caught, then we will find out that we cannot eat money”

– Anonymous proverb

After more than 13 years of search and trace of the formosan clouded leopard, Taiwan and U.S zoologists, declare it almost impossible to exist.

“There are too few opportunities clouded leopards still exist in Taiwan. Maybe there are some out there, but not enough to continue the species, “ said zoologist Chian Po-jen to the Central News Agency of Taiwan.

There is always a reason behind every story, I am going to explain to you in simple words the two principal reasons and also I will show you some example of the common use of the specie.

The Rukai, Taiwanese aborigines, considered the hunting of clouded leopards a taboo; therefore, one of the main reasons that caused  the extinction was the incredible amount of illegal hunting for its teeth and decorative pelt, and for bones for the traditional Asian medicinal trade. (Nowell 2007)

The other main reason is the habitat loss and defragmentation. Deforestation in the tropical regions of Southeast Asia is the most serious threat to the clouded leopard. The species natural habitat has been fragmented and decreasing at a rate of 10% per year since 1997. (source: FAO 2007)

Taiwanese Aborigine leopard fur-by Torii

As every depletion of a specie, their extinction represents a sad setback to the incredible biodiversity and vitality of Planet Earth. The variety, quantity, quality and distribution of biodiversity is being damage. When one member of the biodiversity is depleated, all the ecosystems become less resilient, in this particular case, the recovery of the lost is inexistent.

It is very important that we start to get more and more aware of the importance of the biodiversity and the posible impact in every ecosystem. Below you can see where the few remaining clouded leopards live:

Countries:

Native:

Bangladesh; Bhutan; Cambodia; China; India; Lao People’s Democratic Republic; Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia); Myanmar; Nepal; Thailand; Viet Nam

Regionally extinct:

Taiwan, Province of China (source: iucnredlist.org)

I hope that in a few years from now this list does not change for bad, I expect not to see an increase in “regionally extinct” section.      It would be a real shame for the planet Earth.

Nowadays, we can only see this beautiful specie in videos and museums:

R.I.P the Formosan Clouded Leopard

Pinche aquí para ver el vídeo

Please think before you do something you might regret. Preserve biodiversity as it should be.

Sources:

http://www.livescience.com/29236-clouded-leopard-extinct-taiwan.html

http://cloudedleopard.org/documents/Formosan%20clouded%20leopard%20Po-Jen%20Chiang%202007.pdf

http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/clouded_leopard/

http://www.iucnredlist.org

http://peru.com/actualidad/internacionales/declaran-extinguido-al-leopardo-nublado-formosa-noticia-226332

http://www.panthera.org/node/3652

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/clouded-leopard-declared-extinct-taiwan-6C9727843

Comments Off on EXTINCT: FORMOSAN CLOUDED LEOPARD / 05 Feb 2014 por Gabriela Pella Fernández
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