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Thursday, February 16, 2012

postheadericon Video: Clouded leopard scent marking!



Things are drawing to a close here in the Crocker Range, and we're now busy bringing our fleet of camera traps in from the hills.  It's a bit of an anxious time as we find out if any more cameras have been stolen (10 to date!) and whether we've captured enough clouded leopards on camera to enable us to estimate their density. Despite the nerves, we are very optimistic, and if the rate of photo-captures these last 4 weeks matches that of the first 2 months of cam trapping, then I'll be smiling.

So far we've captured an impressive 288 cloudie photographs, representing 37 separate occasions of six different animals.  Most of these have been from Male 1, including the video below, which I've stitched together from multiple camera images. Here he can be seen moving along a sharp ridgeline, and clearly pauses at a tree to scent mark, probably the first footage of this behavior in this elusive cat!