Trail cameras in Sabah photographed an eight-and-a-half-year-old Sunda clouded leopard, offering what researchers say is the first camera-trap documentation of a female's lifespan in the wild. The multi-organisation study, published in Biotropica, monitored populations across three reserves through 2023 and recorded 52 adult individuals. Findings show individuals move up to 36 km between forest fragments and reveal a strong detection bias against females (68.05% fewer records), with a recorded minimum female lifespan of 6.51 years. The species remains Vulnerable, with under 10,000 mature animals worldwide.
Rare Sighting: 8.5-Year-Old Sunda Clouded Leopard Photographed in Borneo — First Female Lifespan Documented
(Panthera via SWNS)
By Emily Phillips
Trail cameras in Sabah, Malaysia, have captured rare images of an eight-and-a-half-year-old Sunda clouded leopard moving through the rainforests of northern Borneo. The photographs — described by researchers as the first camera-trap documentation of a female Sunda clouded leopard's lifespan in the wild — were taken during a long-term monitoring study and published in the journal Biotropica.
Research Collaboration and Timeline
The images were obtained as part of a collaborative research effort led by Panthera, in partnership with the Sabah Forestry Department, the Sabah Wildlife Department and local indigenous communities. The individual leopard was first detected in July 2009; the frames published in the study were taken in October 2015. Researchers continued monitoring Sunda clouded leopards across three protected reserves in Sabah through to 2023.
(Panthera via SWNS)
Key Findings
The study recorded 52 adult Sunda clouded leopards and produced several notable findings: individuals can travel up to 36 km between forest reserves, and camera-trap records indicate a strong detection bias against females. The authors report that female leopards had 68.05% fewer camera records than males, contributing to an adult sex ratio skewed toward males (30:22).
"Our study contributes a key advancement by documenting a minimum lifespan of 6.51 years for a female," the researchers write. "Notably, female Sunda clouded leopards are considerably harder to detect via camera-traps, as evidenced by 68.05% fewer records and a male-dominated adult sex ratio of 30:22 — a pattern consistently reported in prior camera-trap studies."
Behavioral Insights
The detection bias may reflect differences in behaviour: females are believed to spend more time in the canopy, where their slender bodies and bushy tails aid balance, while males more often travel and patrol on the ground, increasing their likelihood of appearing on camera traps.
Conservation Status
Found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, the Sunda clouded leopard is rarely seen and is notable for having the largest canine teeth relative to body size among living wild cats — a trait that draws comparisons to extinct saber-toothed felines. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the species as Vulnerable, with an estimated fewer than 10,000 mature individuals worldwide.
The new camera-trap evidence improves understanding of female longevity and movement ecology, information that can help inform conservation planning across fragmented forests in Southeast Asia.
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