Research
Clouded Leopard Programme Video Series
Clouded Leopard Programme
Long term studies (Borneo, Myanmar)
Clouded Leopard Camera Trap Database
Policy Toolkits
The Team
Clouded Leopard Programme Video Series
Publications
David Macdonald presents our video series highlighting research findings from WildCRU’s Clouded Leopard Programme.
WildCRU camera trap dataset identifies conservation priorities for clouded leopards
Deforestation is rapidly altering Southeast Asian landscapes, resulting in some of the highest rates of habitat loss worldwide. Among the many species facing declines in this region, clouded leopards rank notably for their ambassadorial potential and capacity to act as powerful levers for broader forest conservation programmes. Using WildCRU’s region-wide camera trap dataset, we identified core habitat and connectivity corridors and ranked remaining habitat patches for conservation prioritization for the entire ranges of the mainland and Sunda clouded leopard, Neofelis nebulosa and N. diardi.
Macdonald, D. W., Bothwell, H. M., Kaszta, Ż., Ash, E., Bolongon, G., Burnham, D., … & Hearn, A. J. (2019). Multi‐scale habitat modelling identifies spatial conservation priorities for mainland clouded leopards (Neofelis nebulosa). Diversity and Distributions, 25(10), 1639-1654.
Macdonald, D. W., Bothwell, H. M., Hearn, A. J., Cheyne, S. M., Haidir, I., Hunter, L. T., … & Cushman, S. A. (2018). Multi-scale habitat selection modeling identifies threats and conservation opportunities for the Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi). Biological Conservation, 227, 92-103.
Toolkit for supporting conservation decision makers in Myanmar
Optimizing the trade-off between development goals and conservation is essential to minimize the effects of rapid land use change on biodiversity. In this short video in the series from WildCRU’s Clouded Leopard Programme, we present an analysis of the impact of major international development on clouded leopard population connectivity, landscape dynamics and genetic diversity in Myanmar, recently published in Landscape Ecology. After decades of political and economic isolation, Myanmar is now the focus of large international investments, particularly from China, which raises questions of how to balance national development with safeguarding the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot. This work evaluates the impact of five major developments in Myanmar (Pipeline railroad, Silk Road, Indian Highway, Dams and Emerging economic zones) on forest ecosystems, using clouded leopard as a focal and umbrella species for wider biodiversity conservation. Based on an empirical habitat relationships model, built from WildCRU’s extensive camera trap survey, we identified core areas and corridors for clouded leopard in Myanmar, and compared them across the development scenarios. We simulated population dynamics and genetic diversity in each scenario using an individual-based, spatially explicit cost-distance population genetics model. Each development was predicted to have a negative effect, this video highlights the impacts.
Kaszta, Ż., Cushman, S. A., Htun, S., Naing, H., Burnham, D., & Macdonald, D. W. Simulating the impact of Belt and Road initiative and other major developments in Myanmar on an ambassador felid, the clouded leopard, Neofelis nebulosa. Landscape Ecology, 1-20.
Toolkit for supporting conservation decision makers in Sabah, Borneo
Changes in land use cover are the main drivers of global biodiversity loss and are a major threat to the Sunda clouded leopards that inhabit the state of Sabah in Malaysian Borneo. But when it comes to land use change is there a way to balance development and conservation goals? In this video in a series highlighting the impact of WildCRU’s Clouded Leopard Programme, David Macdonald highlights research from our team, led by Zaneta Kaszta, showcasing the methodological journey that led to our first toolkit for land use planners. Working with conservation colleagues, NGOs and government officials, WildCRU’s first participatory Tool Kit meeting took place in Sabah in 2017, the next, culminating in a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Christine Liew in 2018, led to the publication of a unique case study of Sabah’s 2033 Structure Plan. In our study we found that the current clouded leopard population was already beyond carrying capacity due to extinction debt, and that forest restoration plans would only have a limited mitigating affect.
Kaszta, Ż., Cushman, S. A., Hearn, A. J., Burnham, D., Macdonald, E. A., Goossens, B., … & Macdonald, D. W. (2019). Integrating Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi) conservation into development and restoration planning in Sabah (Borneo). Biological conservation, 235, 63-76.
WildCRU collaboration reveals the loss of tigers and leopards in Laos
It’s easy to assume that Laos has tigers and leopards, particularly in huge, government-protected areas such as Nam Et-Phou Louey in the north, but it is likely that they have already been poached to local extinction. During her DPhil with WildCRU, Akchousanh Rasphone captured photos of tiger in 2013, but no further sightings on camera. The good news is that four of the six cat species known to exist in Laos were observed by Akchousanh’s silent army of cameras. The beautiful clouded leopard Neofelis nebulosa, the Asian golden cat Catopuma temminckii, the marbled cat Pardofelis marmorata and the leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis.
Rasphone, A., Kéry, M., Kamler, J. F., & Macdonald, D. W. (2019). Documenting the demise of tiger and leopard, and the status of other carnivores and prey, in Lao PDR’s most prized protected area: Nam Et-Phou Louey. Global Ecology and Conservation, 20, e00766
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