Camera Traps Reveal Secret Life of World’s Oldest Sunda Clouded Leopard

Aug 04, 2026

A clouded leopard stands in a forest clearing covered in dry leaves, looking to the right with its mouth slightly open. — The footage was taken between 2007 and 2023.

Newly released camera trap footage from a recent study captures the oldest wild Sunda clouded leopard ever recorded, an eight-and-a-half-year-old female in Borneo’s rainforests, offering a glimpse into the life of one of the world’s most elusive wild cats.

The research, conducted in partnership among Panthera, the global wild cat conservation organization; Sabah Forestry Department; the Sabah Wildlife Department; and the indigenous peoples of Sabah, is the first to document a female’s lifespan in the wild. The data confirmed that these leopards are far more mobile than previously assumed, with some individuals traveling up to 36 kilometers (22 miles) between forest reserves.

A Sunda clouded leopard walks across a forest floor covered in fallen leaves at night.

A marbled cat walks through a grassy forest clearing, its long, spotted tail extended behind it.

A clouded leopard walks toward the camera in a forest, its face slightly out of focus with its mouth partially open. — The oldest known wild clouded leopard – a female – captured on camera trap in Malaysian Borneo. This individual is estimated to have been eight and a half years old.

Females were 68% harder to detect than males. Camera trap data suggests why: females spend far more time in the trees, and their slender bodies and fluffier tails help them balance there. Males, by contrast, spend much of their time on the ground patrolling and re-marking territory, which is why they turn up on camera more often.

Found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, the Sunda clouded leopard, known as the ghost of the forest, is rarely seen and carries the largest canine teeth of any wild cat relative to body size, drawing comparisons to saber-toothed cats. The species is classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, with populations declining due to deforestation, illegal hunting, and habitat fragmentation.

A clouded leopard with glowing eyes walks across a dark, grassy field at night. — The eight-and-a-half-year-old clouded leopard.

A Sunda clouded leopard with a distinct dark-spotted coat and a long, thick tail walks across a dirt path at night. — The eight-and-a-half-year-old clouded leopard.

A clouded leopard walks through a dark, leaf-covered forest floor at night, captured by a camera trap.

Two clouded leopards walk across a forest floor covered in fallen leaves at night. — A Sunda clouded leopard mother and cub – a rarity – caught on camera in Sabah, Borneo.

The study’s dataset was made possible by the indigenous communities of Sabah, who serve as wildlife rangers and community engagement officers for Panthera, patrolling dense terrain, running camera trap networks, and acting as frontline guardians against poachers. That partnership began in 2020 through work on human-elephant conflict, and grew into community reporting of illegal logging and, eventually, government-funded ranger stipends.