Clouded Leopard confirmed "EXTINCT"

A subspecies of clouded leopard unique to Taiwan has been declared extinct by a team of zoologists.

The Formosan clouded leopard once roamed the wilds of Taiwan over territories that spanned from the hills of the Himalayas to Southeast Asia to China. Since 2001 researchers from Taiwan and the US have attempted to locate the animals using a network of 1,500 infra-red cameras but have to date found nothing. "There is little chance that the clouded leopard still exists in Taiwan," said zoologist Chiang Po-jen.

It is believed that a combination of illegal hunting and habitat destruction is responsible for the leopards' disappearance. The nearest living relatives are a pair of clouded leopards in Taipei Zoo that are an imported subspecies from Southeast Asia.