We thought it was extinct, but this beautiful cloudy leopard has reappeared after more than 30 years without knowing anything about it

Not one of these tigers has been seen in their natural habitat since 1983, but in 2019 the miracle happened.

There are many unexplored areas on the planet, although humans are within their reach The most advanced technologyThey are discovered every year Types of animals and plants We haven’t seen it before. The Earth is still wild over much of its surface, which is why it’s so hard to advertise An endangered species. Usually, when humans have not been in contact with a particular species for a long period of time, domestication and conservation begin with an attempt to preserve it. When research teams still fail to locate the species in the wild, It ends up being declared extinct.

That’s what happened to Taiwanese cloudy tiger in 1990, which was finally announced as extinct animal. This animal is very beautiful Big catwith a sharp predatory instinct and Remarkable agility and speed. It is distinguished by the mesmerizing pattern on its back, where instead of black polka dots like its African relatives, They have large spots on their backsin different shades and gradations of the color of the natural fur.

The last sighting of Taiwan’s clouded tiger dates back to 1983. Photo: Wikipedia Commons

In the years leading up to the rule being declared extinct, several teams of conservators Try to get photos or videos of this animal in the wildBecause no one saw him Since 1983. Years of searching have not borne fruit, humanity lost hope To see this beautiful animal again in its natural habitat. but that changed in 2019when Some explorers They observed several specimens in a remote forest on the island of Taiwan.

One last hope for the Tiger Nebula

This animal receives different names: cloudy leopard, cloudy leopard, long-leafed leopard … This is due to the fact that they are recorded Three slightly different subspeciesEach individual lives in a very specific region of Asia. Neofelis nebulosa lives in the mountainous regions in between Nepal and Bhutan and “Neofelis diardi” or “Sunda”, lives only on islands Sumatra and Borneo. Another species, “Neofelis nebulosa brachyura” lives only in Taiwan, and is the one that has been documented. For the first time in decades which is believed to be extinct.

The Borneo and Sumatra dynasties are very elusive and there are hardly any graphic documents for them. Image: Wikipedia Commons

Rangers from Alangyi village in Taiwan started to conduct More comprehensive searches After the first sighting, and in recent years, they have claimed to have seen more clouded leopards in the Jibal Darrenin it Taitung Town. Rural Taiwan has tightened poaching laws to try to protect the species, and several international teams of scientists have resumed searches to try to locate the animal again.

The clouded leopard is a beautiful animal, but also So elusive. They are masters of disguise and are very hard to spot, but at least to this day we know they are a species that endangered in Asiacontinues to thrive on our planet.