‘Very rare’ creature leaps toward camera — then 2 small surprises follow, video shows
In a protected forest of Indonesia, a “very rare” creature stepped into a small clearing. The spotted animal leaped toward a nearby trail camera, followed by two small surprises. The camera captured it all.
The Orangutan Foundation, a non-profit organization based in the United Kingdom, helped set up trail cameras throughout the Tanjung Puting National Park, a protected region along the southern coast of Borneo island. The cameras help officials monitor animal populations.
One of the cameras ended up filming “some amazing, rare footage,” the organization said in a May 17 news release.
The trail camera filmed three “very rare” wildcats identified as a mother Bornean clouded leopard and two cubs.
The video, shared by the foundation on YouTube, shows a gray leopard step into a clearing. Moments later, two cubs appear next to it, one on either side.
The mother leopard leaps toward the camera and walks past on the right-hand side, the video shows. Her cubs follow, seeming to mimic her movements. One stops directly in front of the camera and almost appears to look into it. The cub looks away and the video ends.
Bornean clouded leopards have been filmed at the national park “a few times” but are still considered “rare,” the organization said. The sighting on April 9 was the “first time we recorded a mother with two offspring.”
“To witness a family is extraordinary,” the organization said.
“The clouded leopard is an arboreal species and excellent hunter on the ground,” Anxious Yoga Perdana, a research manager with the organization, said in the release. “As one of the rarest species to find, being able to see a female and cubs gives us evidence that they are healthy and actively breeding.”
Bornean clouded leopards, scientifically known as Neofelis diardi borneensis, are a distinct species of cat that went misidentified until 2007, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Found primarily on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, these leopards are “secretive” and endangered.
Borneo is a large island in southeast Asia divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. Tanjung Puting National Park is in the Indonesian portion.
This story was originally published May 29, 2024 at 8:24 AM with the headline "‘Very rare’ creature leaps toward camera — then 2 small surprises follow, video shows."
