A San Diego Zoo clouded leopard ambassador

This clouded leopard is one of the animal ambassadors people with a Backstage Pass can see in a close encounter activity at San Diego Zoo. I am not in favour of this kind of arranged close encounter activities, because it means these animals must be trained for their job. Which means close contact with human beings, loss of fear for man, and no chance for a return in the wild after captive breeding. Nevertheless, I make an exception for the clouded leopard. This elusive and critically endangered species has to rely on captive breeding to defy extinction. The species' breeding behaviour has been documented only in managed-care facilities. Due to these experiences clouded leopards are considered one of the most difficult large cats to breed in zoological facilities. As there is a high incidence of aggression between males and females, and adult males are generally twice the size of females, this sometimes results in the death of the female. This mate killing could be caused by frustrati