The Clouded Leopard Project

The Clouded Leopard SSP is pleased to announce the establishment of a cooperative breeding and research program in Thailand that will support wild clouded leopard conservation and enhance breeding success in both Thai and American zoos. This project has two primary components: a captive breeding project and a wild clouded leopard conservation and research project.


	Watch Movie Clips You will need Quicktime to view these video clips. Baby Leopards in Action

This program, based at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo, has been developed by a consortium consisting of the Thailand Zoological Parks Organization (ZPO), Nashville Zoo, Smithsonian's National Zoological Park, and the Clouded Leopard SSP. Khao Kheow Zoo will serve as the project's first breeding center in Thailand, housing pairs of clouded leopards originating from the five zoos within the ZPO. Some of the cubs that result may eventually be exported to the United States to serve as new founders to the SSP population in an effort to improve that population's genetics and demographics.

An essential component of the project is the placement of a full-time coordinator from the United States in Thailand. The coordinator will oversee the project and perform critical duties such as developing proper husbandry techniques, train Thai zookeepers, improve enclosures, assist in veterinary care, and maintain records. Experienced clouded leopard managers from Smithsonian National Zoo,the Nashville Zoo, and Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium will rotate duties as project coordinator, with the zoos funding their salaries while they are working in Thailand.

		Renovate existing enclosures at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo to provide isolated breeding areas and dens for clouded leopards
		Provide an onsite animal manager with extensive experience in clouded leopard breeding, nutrition, and management
		Provide salary for an English-speaking Thai animal keeper
		Provide training in basic clouded leopard husbandry and breeding techniques
		Develop a record keeping system for animal husbandry, nutrition, breeding, pregnancy, and cub survival data
		Formulate and provide a nutritionally balanced diet and determine source for fresh rodents and quail
		Move cats to newly renovated enclosures
		Assess changes in stress (measured as fecal cortisol) before and after the move to improved, isolated enclosures (conducted by Brookfield Zoo)
		Assess female reproductive status and cyclicity using fecal hormone analyses of estrogen and progesterone metabolites (conducted by Smithsonian National Zoological Park)
		Begin introductions and breeding encounters with selected animals
		Monitor pregnancy/gestation/parturition using fecal hormones

Progress Reports
May 2003
October 2005

Wild Clouded Leopard Conservation in Thailand:

The Carnivore Conservation Project

Click here to learn more about this exciting work studying the wild cats of Thailand!

As of September 2005, this project has been generously funded by:

Brookfield Zoo Smithsonian's National Zoo Sacramento Zoo Nashville Zoo John Ball Zoological Society Zoo Atlanta Clouded Leopard SSP® Oglebay's Good Zoo Karen Goodrowe-Beck Linda Mars Sean and Cary Barrett Debra Johnson Sharon Witman & Mark Wolinsky	Caribbean Gardens Disney's Animal Kingdom Cincinnati Zoo International Animal Exchange Hexagon Farm Columbus Zoo Oakhill Center Topeka Zoo Friends of the National Zoo Clint and Missy Kelly Penny Miller Marie Huddle Oakhill Center	Fort Worth Zoo Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium Point Defiance AAZK Chapter Alexandria Zoo Little Rock Zoo Cincinnati Zoo Bonnie and Steve Breitbeil Minnesota Zoo Philadelphia Zoo Cleveland AAZK Chapter Ann Bissell Bergen County Zoo

Jo Gayle Howard, DVM
Department of Reproductive Sciences
National Zoological Park
3001 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20008

Please make checks out to FONZ (Friends of the National Zoo) and include a notation indicating the monies are for the "Thailand Clouded Leopard Consortium."

Thank you for your support of this important project.