- A viral clip of a clouded leopard mom and her two cubs was wrongly reported as a brand new sighting from Northeast India by some media retailers and social media channels.
- The video was initially captured by a digicam lure sighting of the cat household within the Tanjung Puting Nationwide Park of Indonesia.
- Consultants who defined the distinction between the 2 similar-looking species warn that such unverified reporting can result in distortion of public understanding and document of the species distribution.
World Clouded Leopard day is well known on August 4 yearly. This 12 months too folks acquainted with the cat species posted footage and movies to lift consciousness. Nonetheless, one such video submit triggered a celebratory protection in India resulting in some outstanding media organisations claiming a brand new sighting of two cubs and a mom clouded leopard within the Northeast.
Headlines corresponding to ‘Uncommon footage captures a clouded leopard mom and her cubs within the dense rainforests of Northeast India’; ‘IFS officer spots uncommon clouded leopard with cubs in Northeast’s forest’; ‘Beautiful Video Reveals The Secret Life Of Endangered Clouded Leopards In Northeast’; and ‘In a wide ranging second from Northeast India’s dense rainforests, uncommon footage has captured a clouded leopard mom together with her cubs’, had been carried by some information retailers on social media.
The experiences originated from a submit on X (previously Twitter) by former IFS officer Susanta Nanda. In his submit, the previous IFS officer uploaded a video of two clouded leopard cubs with their mom and mentioned, “Elusive. Ethereal. Endangered. With barely ~10,000 left within the wild & scattered sightings in NE India, the Clouded Leopard is our most secretive large cat. Right here, a uncommon glimpse — a mom together with her cubs, guardians of an historical rainforest. A sight so uncommon that it’s legendary.”
Nonetheless this submit was misinterpreted by some organisations which led to the claims of a brand new sighting within the Northeast.
Totally different location, totally different species
The video Nanda shared was initially uploaded by the Orangutan Basis on their Instagram deal with in Could 2024. The video was from a lure digicam sighting of the cat household within the Tanjung Puting Nationwide Park within the Central Kalimantan province of Indonesia.
Talking to Mongabay India, Urjit Bhat, a scientist engaged on clouded leopards confirmed the situation of the video as Indonesia and never India’s northeast.
“The clouded leopard present in Northeast India is the mainland species (Neofelis nebulosa), which ranges throughout the Himalayan foothills and Southeast Asia. The one within the viral video was the Bornean clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi borneensis), restricted to Borneo island,” Bhat mentioned.
Till 2007, each had been thought-about to be one species (Neofelis nebulosa) however analysis later established that the cats present in Borneo and Sumatra are distinct from their mainland cousins.
“They’re genetically and morphologically distinct, which is why they’re recognised as two separate species. Morphologically, N. diardi usually displays smaller, extra densely packed cloud-like markings, darker fur colouration, and a comparatively shorter tail (in comparison with N. nebulosa),” Bhat defined.
Troublesome to establish
In India, the clouded leopard is much much less identified than the tiger, lion or leopard largely resulting from its restricted distribution, small inhabitants and secretive behaviour. The details about this species is so restricted that folks residing in areas the place this species happens don’t know the small print of this felid and infrequently mistake it for different species.
“For most individuals, particularly outdoors the conservation or analysis group, it’s fairly straightforward to misidentify a clouded leopard. It’s an elusive and lesser identified species, and sightings are uncommon. Many have solely seen pictures on-line or heard of it domestically, so any noticed wild cat might be mistaken as a clouded leopard,” Hiranmoy Chetia, senior area officer at Wildlife Belief of India’s Manas Restoration Mission mentioned.
“There’s a risk of complicated a clouded leopard with different species such because the leopard cat and even juvenile leopards. Probably the most complicated is marbled cat. In some native languages, like in a current research on marbled cat in Kakoi Reserve Forest of Lakhimpur district of Assam, each clouded leopard and marbled cat are referred to by the identical title, which provides to the confusion. Their physique measurement and coat patterns differ, however until one is skilled or has prior expertise, these distinctions are simply missed,” Chetia elaborated.
Misreporting fuels confusion
Unverified reporting on a lesser-known species can have an effect on public understanding of those species and their behaviour. Within the longer run, it might probably additionally have an effect on conservation efforts and the participation of native communities.
“When media retailers misidentify species or recycle unrelated footage, it distorts public understanding of biodiversity and conservation priorities,” Chetia mentioned.
Highlighting the significance of accuracy within the species’ distribution, Bhat mentioned, “Misreporting wildlife sightings can create false impressions about the place a species happens, which dangers deceptive each most people and policymakers.”
“The issue worsens when main retailers merely amplify social media posts with out verifying accuracy, as seen lately with this when mainstream publications publicised the Bornean clouded leopard video as if it had been from Northeast India” he added.
Misreporting on lesser-known species could make issues worse as there may be little or no info out there amongst folks. “For lesser-known species just like the clouded leopard, false experiences can mislead coverage discussions, skew conservation narratives, and even undermine belief in genuine sightings or analysis. Correct info is essential to lift consciousness meaningfully and assist conservation efforts,” Chetia mentioned.
“For elusive and lesser-known species just like the clouded leopard, already troublesome for researchers to review, such errors can distort conservation priorities and weaken belief in conservation efforts,” Bhat concluded.
Learn extra: First photographic document of a clouded leopard preying on a Bengal sluggish loris
Banner picture: A clouded leopard in Cotswold Wildlife Park within the U.Ok. Consultant picture by Richard through Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0).
