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Palm Oil Detectives
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Orange-breasted Falcon Falco deiroleucus

Near Threatened

Extant (resident)

Belize; Venezuela, Bolivia

Extant (possibly breeding)

Argentina; Bolivia, Brazil; Colombia; Ecuador; Guatemala; Guyana; Honduras; Mexico; Nicaragua; Panama; Paraguay; Peru; Suriname; Trinidad and Tobago.

Possibly extinct

Costa Rica

The vibrant Orange-breasted #Falcon Falco deiroleucus soars through the skies of Central and #SouthAmerica. With their striking orange and black plumage and powerful and agile hunting skills, these falcons are truly a marvel to behold. Sadly, these #birds face significant threats from #palmoil, #goldmining, #

Orange-breasted Falcon Falco deiroleucus

Near Threatened

Extant (resident)

Belize; Venezuela, Bolivia

Extant (possibly breeding)

Argentina; Bolivia, Brazil; Colombia; Ecuador; Guatemala; Guyana; Honduras; Mexico; Nicaragua; Panama; Paraguay; Peru; Suriname; Trinidad and Tobago.

Possibly extinct

Costa Rica

The vibrant Orange-breasted #Falcon Falco deiroleucus soars through the skies of Central and #SouthAmerica. With their striking orange and black plumage and powerful and agile hunting skills, these falcons are truly a marvel to behold. Sadly, these #birds face significant threats from #palmoil, #goldmining, #soy and #meat deforestation. You can help protect these magnificent birds every time you shop. Make sure that you #BoycottPalmOil #BoycottGold and #BoycottMeat to help them survive! It’s the #Boycott4Wildlife.

Powerful rulers of the skies in #Colombia #Brazil and #Ecuador, Orange-breasted Falcons 🦅 face threats from #palmoil #meat #soy and #gold #deforestation across their range. Fight for them when you shop #Boycottpalmoil 🚫#BoycottGold 🪙 #Boycott4Wildlife🌳 https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8tM

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DYK Orange-breasted 🦅 Falcon’s striking orange 🧡 and black 🖤 plumage helps their courtship displays? 💕Sadly, these beautiful #birds are under threat from #palmoil #soy and #gold #deforestation. Help them and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife 🌍✨ https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8tM

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https://youtu.be/fO7KLTqyS68

Appearance & Behaviour

These falcons are known for their incredible hunting prowess. They are agile fliers, capable of high-speed pursuits and sudden, sharp turns to catch their prey. Their striking orange and black plumage not only serves as a visual treat but also plays a role in their courtship displays.

The Orange-breasted Falcon is a medium-sized bird of prey, measuring about 35-40 cm (14-16 inches) in length. Males weigh between 325-425 grams (11-15 ounces), while females are larger, weighing between 550-700 grams (19-25 ounces). Their distinctive plumage features a rich and vibrant coloured orange breast that contrasts to their black wings and back. Both sexes have similar plumage, but females are larger. These falcons are known for their robust and stocky build and large heads and talons, which make them powerful hunters stalking the skies.

Image/photo

Threats

Deforestation for palm oil, soy, gold mining and cattle ranching
Human persecution and hunting
Pesticide use in agriculture, which affects their prey base
Competition for nest sites with Black Vultures
Impact of Africanised bees on nesting sites

Empower yourself to make a difference. Together, we can fight for the survival of the Orange-breasted Falcon by making mindful choices. #BoycottPalmOil and support wildlife-friendly products. Share this page and join the movement to protect our precious wildlife. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
Orange-breasted Falcon Falco deiroleucus

Habitat

The Orange-breasted Falcon is found in tropical forests and savannas across Central and South America, from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. They prefer habitats with tall trees and open spaces that allow for their high-speed hunting. They are most commonly found in Belize, Guatemala, and Panama, though their range has significantly reduced over time.

Diet

These falcons are carnivorous, primarily feeding on other birds and small mammals. They are skilled hunters, often capturing prey mid-flight with their sharp talons. Their diet includes a wide variety of birds and occasionally bats.

Mating and breeding

Orange-breasted Falcons typically nest in tall trees or on cliff ledges. They lay 2-3 eggs, which are incubated by the female for about 30-34 days. Both parents are involved in feeding and caring for the chicks until they are ready to fledge, approximately 40-45 days after hatching.

Support Orange-breasted Falcon by going vegan and boycotting palm oil, gold and meat when you shop, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife

Support the conservation of this species

This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.

Further Information

BirdLife International. 2016. Falco deiroleucus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22696516A93569126. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22696516A93569126.en. Accessed on 05 June 2024.

Orange-breasted Falcon. (2024). In Wikipedia. Retrieved June 5, 2024, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange-breasted_falcon
Orange-breasted Falcon Falco deiroleucus

Contribute to palm oil detectives - black rhino in profile

How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?

Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Pledge your support

Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing

A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)

WHO Bulletin on Palm Oil: Deforestation and Extinction 1334732

WHO Bulletin on Palm Oil: Air Pollution and Health

#animals #Belize #Bird #birdOfPrey #birds #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottGold #BoycottMeat #BoycottPalmOil #Brazil #Colombia #deforestation #Ecuador #Falcon #ForgottenAnimals #gold #goldmining #Guatamala #Honduras #hunting #meat #meatAndSoyDeforestationInBrazil #Mexico #NearThreatenedSpecies #OrangeBreastedFalconFalcoDeiroleucus #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #poaching #SouthAmericaSpeciesEndangeredByPalmOilDeforestation #SouthAmerica #soy #soyDeforestation #Suriname #Venezuela #VulnerableSpecies

Orange-breasted Falcon Falco deiroleucus

The vibrant Orange-breasted #Falcon Falco deiroleucus soars through the skies of Central and #SouthAmerica. With their striking orange and black plumage and powerful and agile hunting skills, these…

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Palm Oil Detectives

2025-03-22 14:54:00

Sunda Clouded Leopard Neofelis diardi
Sunda Clouded Leopard Neofelis diardi

IUCN Status: Vulnerable
Location: Brunei Darussalam; Indonesia (Sumatera, Kalimantan); Malaysia (Sarawak, Sabah)
Gliding through the rainforest canopy like a phantom predator, the Sunda Clouded Leopard moves with unmatched grace, making them one of the least understood big cats in the world. Their spectacularly patterned coat, the longest canines relative to skull size of any feline, and astonishing agility in trees set these big cats apart as a truly unique species. Yet, despite these remarkable adaptations, these mysterious carnivores are now rapidly vanishing from the wild due to human-related threats.
Massive infrastructure projects, industrial-scale palm oil plantations, and poaching for the illegal wildlife trade have decimated their populations. Once thought to be a subspecies of the mainland clouded leopard, genetic studies in 2006 confirmed that they are a distinct species, found only in Borneo and Sumatra. Today, they are among the most threatened felines in the world, teetering on the edge of an uncertain future. Take action for them every time you shop and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife

https://youtu.be/O2oSm6wlqw4
Sunda Clouded #leopards are agile ambush #predators 🐆 of #gibbons, wild #pigs and mouse deer in #Borneo and #Sumatra. #Palmoil deforestation is a huge threat to these #BigCats. Help them when you #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🔥💀🚫#Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-anN
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Sleek and elegant wild #Cats 🐱🐆 of #Indonesia 🇮🇩 and #Malaysia 🇲🇾 Sunda Clouded #Leopards are #vulnerable due to #PalmOil #Deforestation and #poaching Help them when you 🌴🩸🔥⛔️ #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-anN
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Appearance & Behaviour

Sunda Clouded Leopards are expert climbers, possessing a long, thick tail (equal to their body length) for balance, rotating ankle joints that allow them to descend trees headfirst, and razor-sharp retractable claws for gripping bark. Their bodies are smaller and more compact than mainland clouded leopards, making them highly agile ambush predators.
They are solitary and nocturnal, moving silently through the forest to hunt primates, deer, and birds. Unlike most big cats, they purr rather than roar and rely on their extraordinarily developed senses to detect prey. Though they spend time on the forest floor, they are one of the most arboreal of all felines, capable of jumping several metres between branches.

Threats
1. Deforestation for infrastructure, timber and palm oil

More than 50% of Borneo’s forests and two-thirds of Sumatra’s forests have been destroyed, mainly for palm oil plantations and logging.
Mega infrastructure projects, including the Pan Borneo Highway, Trans-Sumatra Highway, and Indonesia’s new capital (Nusantara), are further severing vital forest corridors.
Illegal logging and forest conversion continue to reduce already fragmented populations, leaving them trapped in isolated forest patches.

2. Poaching and the Illegal Wildlife Trade

Highly valued for their skins, bones, and meat, they are frequently trapped in snares. Between 2011 and 2019, at least 30 individuals were seized in the illegal trade, with live animals smuggled internationally. The rise in commercial wildlife markets has put additional pressure on an already declining population.
3. Loss of Prey and Ecosystem Disruptions

Overhunting of deer, wild boar, and primates is drastically reducing their food supply. A 2024 study revealed that mesopredator release—where smaller carnivores like Sunda Leopard Cats increase in number—may be negatively impacting the number of clouded leopards.
4. Human-Wildlife Conflict and Retaliatory Killings

Farmers kill clouded leopards when they prey on livestock. With deforestation pushing them into human settlements, conflict is increasing.
5. Climate Change and Forest Fires

Longer dry seasons and extreme weather due to climate change are making rainforest habitats unstable and food sources scarcer. Fires, caused by land clearing for palm oil plantations, are destroying crucial remaining habitat.
Geographic Range

The Sunda Clouded Leopard (Neofelis diardi) is found only on the Southeast Asian islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Known locally as rimau-dahan (“tree tiger” in Malay) and entulu in Sarawak, these elusive big cats thrive in dense rainforests, where their exceptional climbing skills and camouflage allow them to hunt undetected. They are particularly dependent on lowland primary forests but have been increasingly pushed into montane and secondary forests due to rampant deforestation.
Key Habitats:

Sumatra – Leuser Ecosystem, Kerinci Seblat National Park, Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park
Borneo – Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo), Sabah and Sarawak (Malaysian Borneo), Brunei Darussalam
Heart of Borneo Landscape – This transboundary rainforest, spanning Brunei, Malaysian Borneo, and Indonesian Kalimantan, serves as one of the last strongholds for the species.

Diet

Sunda Clouded Leopards are apex rainforest predators, feeding on:
Primates – Gibbons, macaques, langurs
Ungulates – Mouse deer, muntjac, young bearded pigs
Birds, rodents, and reptiles
Occasionally livestock in fragmented forest areas
Their hunting strategy involves stealth and ambush, using their powerful jaws and canines to deliver a fatal bite to the neck. As their habitat shrinks, they are increasingly forced into human settlements, where they are often shot in retaliation.
Mating and Reproduction

Little is known about their breeding behaviour, however:
They reach sexual maturity at around two years old.
Gestation lasts 85–95 days, producing 1–5 cubs (typically 2).
Cubs remain hidden in dense vegetation for the first five months.
Mothers raise cubs alone, teaching them to hunt before they become independent.
Their slow reproductive rate, combined with habitat destruction, makes population recovery extremely difficult.

FAQs
Are Sunda Clouded Leopards dangerous to humans?

No. Sunda Clouded Leopards are extremely elusive and prefer to avoid human contact. They only venture into human areas when forced by habitat loss.
How are they different from mainland Clouded Leopards?

Sunda Clouded Leopards (Neofelis diardi) were originally thought to be the same species as the Indochinese Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), but genetic studies in 2006 confirmed that they are separate species.
• Genetic divergence: The two species diverged between 2 million and 900,000 years ago, likely when rising sea levels isolated Borneo and Sumatra from the mainland.
• Physical differences: Sunda Clouded Leopards have darker fur, smaller cloud markings, and a more robust build, whereas Indochinese Clouded Leopards are lighter in colour with larger, more defined markings.
• Habitat preferences: Sunda Clouded Leopards rarely descend to the forest floor, whereas Indochinese Clouded Leopards hunt both in trees and on the ground.
Why are they called “Tree Tigers”?

The Malay name rimau-dahan means “tree tiger”, as they are among the best tree-climbing predators in the world. This name comes from their incredible climbing skills and their resemblance to big cats like tigers. Their large paws, long tail, and flexible ankles make them exceptional tree climbers, often leaping between branches or ambushing prey from above.
Are Sunda Clouded Leopards extinct anywhere?

They were once found on Java, but are now extinct there.
How many Sunda Clouded Leopards are left?

Estimates suggest there are fewer than 10,000 mature individuals, but deforestation and poaching are causing rapid declines. Exact numbers are hard to determine due to their elusive nature.
Take Action!

Every time you shop, choose 100% palm oil-free products to avoid contributing to deforestation. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
Boycott palm oil and products that contribute to rainforest destruction.
Support conservation efforts protecting Borneo and Sumatra’s last remaining forests.
Advocate for stronger anti-poaching laws and enforcement.

Support Sunda Clouded Leopards by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife
Support the conservation of this species

This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Further Information

Cowan, C. (2024, April 29). Borneo and Sumatra megaprojects are carving up clouded leopard forests. Mongabay. https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/borneo-and-sumatra-megaprojects-are-carving-up-clouded-leopard-forests/
Buckley-Beason, V. A., Johnson, W. E., Nash, W. G., Stanyon, R., Menninger, J. C., Driscoll, C. A., Howard, J., Bush, M., Page, J. E., Roelke, M. E., Stone, G., Martelli, P., Wen, C., Ling, L., Duraisingam, R. K., Lam, P. V., & O’Brien, S. J. (2006). Molecular evidence for species-level distinctions in clouded leopards. Current Biology, 16(23), 2371–2376. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2006.08.066
Haidir, I., Macdonald, D. W., & Linkie, M. (2020). Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi) densities and human activities in the humid evergreen rainforests of Sumatra. Oryx, 55(2), 189-196. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605319001005
Hearn, A., Ross, J., Brodie, J., Cheyne, S., Haidir, I.A., Loken, B., Mathai, J., Wilting, A. & McCarthy, J. 2015. Neofelis diardi (errata version published in 2016). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T136603A97212874. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T136603A50664601.en. Accessed on 26 February 2025.
Kaszta, Z., Cushman, S. A., Hearn, A. J., Burnham, D., Macdonald, E. A., Goossens, B., Nathan, S., & Macdonald, D. W. (2019). Integrating Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi) conservation into development and restoration planning in Sabah, Borneo. Biological Conservation, 235(4). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.04.001
Mayhew, D. S., Hearn, A. J., Devineau, O., Linnell, J. D. C., & Macdonald, D. W. (2024). Loss of Sunda clouded leopards and forest integrity drive potential impacts of mesopredator release on vulnerable avifauna. Heliyon, 10(12), e32801. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e32801
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Sunda Clouded Leopard. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunda_clouded_leopard
Wong, W.-M. (2021, September 17). Species Spotlight: Sunda Clouded Leopard, the Ethereal and Declining ‘Tree Tiger’. The Revelator. https://therevelator.org/species-spotlight-sunda-clouded-leopard/

How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?

Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
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2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Read more
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Read more
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

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Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

Read more
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

Read more
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support
Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture

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Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing

Read more about RSPO greenwashing

Lying
Fake labels
Indigenous Land-grabbing
Human rights abuses
Deforestation
Human health hazards
A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)
Read more

#animals #bigCat #bigcat #bigcats #Borneo #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #Brunei #carnivores #cats #deforestation #ForgottenAnimals #Gibbons #hunting #Indonesia #Kalimantan #leopard #leopards #Malaysia #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #Pigs #poaching #predators #Sarawak #SEAsia #SouthEastAsia #Sumatra #SundaCloudedLeopardNeofelisDiardi #vulnerable

Species Spotlight: Sunda Clouded Leopard, the Ethereal and Declining ‘Tree Tiger’ • The Revelator
Isolated on just two islands in Asia, this forest-dependent wild cat persists in the region experiencing the world’s fastest deforestation.
^{Wai-Ming Wong (The Revelator)}

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Dazzling Harlequin Poisonous #Frogs 🐸💚 of #Colombia 🇨🇴 are sensitive to noise 🎶📢 Their rainbow colours 🌈 make them #rainforest works of art! ✨🎨Critically Endangered by #mining and #palmoil #BoycottGold 🥇🩸⛔️ #BoycottPalmOil 🌴☠️⛔️ @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/03/20/harlequin-poison-frog-oophaga-histrionica/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

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No #Margay has the same gorgeous pattern of spots 🐾✨💖🐆 They are Near Threatened in #SouthAmerica for #palmoil #soy #meat #deforestation and illegal #poaching. Fight for them and be #vegan 🥕🍆🤟 #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🩸🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/11/26/margay-leopardus-wiedii/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

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Social and cheeky Campbell's Mona Monkeys 🐵🐒🤎 use their puffy cheeks to store food. Threats include #hunting #cocoa #palmoil #deforestation in #Gambia 🇬🇲 #Liberia 🇱🇷 Help save them! #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife 🌴🩸🔥☠️🚜⛔️ @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2024/01/28/campbells-mona-monkey-cercopithecus-campbelli/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

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The huge growth of #palmoil in #Assam and #Nicobar Islands in #India 🇮🇳 poses a threat to rare beautiful animals 🐒🌿🐢🦎🐦🕊️ #ecosystems and #indigenous peoples. Fight back when you shop! #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife

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http://palmoildetectives.com/2023/02/15/a-mega-port-and-palm-oil-on-great-nicobar-island-india-threatens-the-survival-of-the-largest-turtles-on-earth/

Nicobar Islands Port and Palm Oil: Threatens Giant Turtles

On Great Nicobar Island in the most southerly part of India, big plans are in motion to transform the island into a shipping hub and destroy its native ecosystems including mangroves, reef systems …

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#Deforestation occurs against a background of #crime and #corruption as exposed in the #PanamaPapers @ICIJorg. Brands #Colgate #Danone #Nestle and others buy tainted #palmoil while lying to that it is "sustainable" 🌴⛔ #BoycottPalmOil

http://palmoildetectives.com/2022/06/26/treespiracy/

Treespiracy: Forests are being destroyed against a background of corruption, illegality and apathy

#Deforestation occurs against a background of #crime and #corruption as exposed in the #PanamaPapers @ICIJorg. Brands #Colgate #Danone #Nestle and others buy tainted #palmoil while lying to that it…

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Cryptic and solitary #marsupials, Waigeo #cuscus 🐒 cling to tree canopies on Waigeo Island #WestPapua, they are vulnerable from #palmoil 🌴🪔🩸💀⛔️ #deforestation. Help them and go #vegan and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/07/09/waigeo-cuscus-spilocuscus-papuensis/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

#vegan #palmoil #deforestation #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife #westpapua #cuscus #marsupials

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#Mandrills are #monkeys with vividly coloured faces 🌈🐵🐒 and rumps. They are the #vulnerable from #palmoil 🌴🔥 and #cocoa 🍫🔥 #deforestation and #hunting. Fight for them every time you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/12/17/mandrill-mandrillus-sphinx/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

Mandrill Mandrillus sphinx

Magnificent #mandrills are undoubtedly one of the world’s most photogenic monkeys – famous for their brightly coloured and expressive appearance. Their bright blue rumps and vivid red, …

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Doria's Tree #Kangaroos 🦘🩷 are tree-dwelling #marsupials unique and endemic to #PapuaNewGuinea 🇵🇬 endangered by #palmoil 🌴 and #coffee ☕️ #deforestation #hunting 🔫 Support them when you #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🪔☠️🙊⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/02/03/dorias-tree-kangaroo-dendrolagus-dorianus/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

Doria’s Tree Kangaroo Dendrolagus dorianus

High in the misty mountain rainforests of Papua New Guinea, Doria’s Tree Kangaroo moves with deliberate agility through the dense canopy. With their thick brown fur, powerful limbs, and expressive …

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Indian #Rhinoceros 🇮🇳🦏😿 are in trouble in #India their range in #Assam is earmarked for #palmoil #deforestation. Fight for them in the supermarket and #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🩸🚜🔥☠️🧐⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife

http://palmoildetectives.com/2023/09/03/indian-rhinoceros-greater-one-horned-rhino-rhinoceros-unicornis/

Indian Rhinoceros (Greater One-horned Rhino) Rhinoceros unicornis

The largest of the three rhino species in Asia, the Indian Rhino has a distinctive and unique armour-plated look which lends them a fairytale quality that has captivated admirers for aeons. Althoug…

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With the adorable face of a #teddybear 🧸 and the agile body of a #Kangaroo 🦘 the #Dingiso is a tree kangaroo of #WestPapua. They're #endangered from #palmoil #deforestation Fight for them and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Widlife 🌴🩸🔥☠️🧐⛔️

http://palmoildetectives.com/2021/01/26/dingiso-dendrolagus-mbaiso/

Dingiso Dendrolagus mbaiso

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Adorable wide-eyed 👀 and bushy tailed 🐀😻🩶 Arfak Ringtails are #marsupials #vulnerable from #mining and #PalmOil #Deforestation in #WestPapua. Protect them when you shop and #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🩸🚜☠️⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife #FreeWestPapua #PapuaMerdeka

http://palmoildetectives.com/2021/01/26/arfak-ringtail-pseudochirulus-schlegeli/

Arfak Ringtail Pseudochirulus schlegeli

The Arfak Ringtail Pseudochirulus schlegeli is a wide-eyed and bushy tailed #possum living in the remote Arfak Mountains and cloud forests of #WestPapua. Although little is known of these tree-dwel…

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The King #Cobra 🐍 is the serpentine king 👑🌳 of the jungle in #Thailand #India #Cambodia 🇮🇳 🇹🇭🇰🇭 they're #vulnerable due to #palmoil #deforestation and human persecution 😿 Protect them when you #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🔥⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect.bsky.social https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/02/17/king-cobra-ophiophagus-hannah/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

King Cobra Ophiophagus hannah

Known as the serpentine king of the jungle in South East Asia, and inspiration for the villain Kaa in the Jungle Book, the King Cobra lives in many different environments, including pristine forest…

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African Manatees 🐋💙 have been a fixture in #African myths for millennia 🇨🇩🇨🇲🇬🇭🇱🇷 Now they a threatened by #palmoil 🌴🩸🔥 #hunting, #cocoa and the pet trade. Help them every time you shop and #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🪔⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/10/08/african-manatee-trichechus-senegalensis/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

African Manatee Trichechus senegalensis

In the folklore of West Africa, there’s a fascinating character called Maame Water, believed to be a goddess of the sea, she symbolises wealth and beauty. Maame Water is none other than the A…

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Giuseppe Zolli

1 week ago

Giuseppe Zolli
1 week ago

Gentle Proboscis #Monkeys of #Borneo are famous for their long noses. Until recently the reasons why baffled scientists, not anymore! They're threatened by #palmoil #deforestation. You can help when you Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetectives https://wp.me/pcFhgU-5G6

Palm Oil Detectives

2025-03-29 15:10:00

Demystifying the Strange Beauty of the Proboscis Monkey’s Large Nose
Of all the #monkey species around the world, one stands out with its large, bizarre nose. In male proboscis monkeys, their bulbous noses will often hang past their mouths.
But why did they evolve such a strange feature? Are they a visual sign of health and status to potential female mates, and to other males? Or did they evolve to help the monkeys make honks and other loud sounds? New groundbreaking #research has much to reveal about the mysterious large nose of the Proboscis Monkey!
Fascinating and oddly beautiful Proboscis #Monkeys of #Malaysia #Indonesia, have webbed feet and live in harems. Now #researchers discovered why they have such long noses! Help them survive when you #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-5G6
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Gentle Proboscis #Monkeys of #Borneo are famous for their long noses. Until recently the reasons why baffled scientists, not anymore! They’re threatened by #palmoil #deforestation. You can help when you Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-5G6
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Written by Katharine Balolia, Senior Lecturer in Biological Anthropology, Australian National University The author would like to acknowledge the paper’s co-author, former ANU Masters student Pippa Fitzgerald. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Proboscis monkey side view with a large nose Slavianin/Shutterstock
In our new study, published in Scientific Reports, we have deepened our understanding of these enlarged nasal structures by investigating what lies beneath: the structures in the skull.
Our findings help to explain how these noses function as visual and acoustic signals of health and status. They also add to a growing body of evidence that shows researchers can use close examinations of skulls to glean information about primate social behaviour.
A battle of noses

One of the largest monkey species in Asia, proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus) are endemic to the island of Borneo. They live in coastal mangroves, peat swamps and riverine forests, and have an unusual diet made up mostly of leaves.
They can swim quite well and have webbed fingers and toes. They typically live in harem groups, made up of a single adult male (who tends to have a large, bulbous nose), some adult females and their offspring.
Males don’t often get the opportunity to attract a harem until they reach middle age. These older, dominant and large-nosed males don’t easily tolerate other large-nosed males, often trying to ward them off aggressively with deep honks and “nasal roars” – loud calls they make using their noses.
Young adult males with smaller noses often live in all-male bachelor groups, and don’t tend to fight aggressively with each other. When these bachelor males get older and become large (and large-nosed) enough to compete with males that are part of a breeding group, they are in a position to overthrow the tenured male. Females then often choose to form a harem group with this new, high-status male.
The nose is considerably smaller in female proboscis monkeys. Milan Zygmunt/Shutterstock
What’s behind the nose?

We investigated the size and shape of the proboscis monkey nasal cavity. That’s the bony chamber of the skull that sits behind the fleshy nose. Our goal was to find out if the size and shape of the nasal aperture – the front part of the cavity, where the fleshy nose tissue attaches – can tell us more about why these peculiar appendages evolved.
Previous research that looked at the bulbous nose in males suggests it evolved to advertise status. In our new research, we wanted to better understand how this could be the case, this time using data taken from the skull.
We used 3D surface models, downloaded from a public repository, to take size and shape measurements from 33 adult proboscis monkey skulls. We compared these with the adult skulls of king colobus monkeys, blue monkeys and crab-eating macaques, three old world monkey species.
Crab-eating macaques have tiny noses by comparison. Erik Klietsch/Shutterstock
We chose some measurements to quantify the nasal cavity, and others to quantify the nasal aperture in all the species. We also looked at tooth wear, since older adult monkeys have more worn teeth than younger adults. That would allow us to find out if older adult males had a larger nasal aperture than younger adult males.
Better honks

If male proboscis monkeys have a different nasal cavity shape to females, and a unique shape compared to the other monkey species, it would support the idea these enhanced nasal structures – both the fleshy nose and the cavity behind it – evolved to allow for more effective honks and nasal roars.
That was indeed what we found. The shape of the male nasal cavity was low and long compared to females. This allows males to build up resonance (sound vibration) in their nasal cavities, allowing them to emit deeper and louder calls through their noses.
The nasal aperture shape was also different between the sexes. In males, it looks a bit like an eggplant, while in females it looks more like an upside-down pear. This unique opening shape in males allows for higher intensity sounds to be emitted through the nose.
3D model screenshots of a male proboscis monkey (left) and a female proboscis monkey (right). Male nasal aperture size is 29% larger than that of females, and males and females differ in their nasal aperture shape. Katharine Balolia/Morphosource Media (USNM521841; ID 000345556 and USNM142224; ID 000345144)
The sex differences in cavity shape were also larger than what we found in other old world monkey species. This further supports the idea that the nasal cavity of male proboscis monkeys underwent an evolutionary change for the purpose of making certain sounds.
Lastly, the age. Older proboscis monkey males really do have larger nasal apertures than younger adult males, but the cavity itself didn’t increase with age. This supports the idea that the large noses act as a visual signal. It’s also consistent with the fleshy nose size increasing in middle-aged or older adult males, which we know from behavioural studies in the wild.
Making honks and nasal roars really does seem to be the evolutionary purpose of these fleshy noses. Nokuro/Shutterstock
Our evidence from the skull allows us to better understand how nasal structures in male proboscis monkeys evolved for both acoustic and visual signalling.
The more we know about how regions of the skull function as social signals, the better chance we have of reconstructing extinct primate social behaviour using fossilised skull remains.
Written by Katharine Balolia, Senior Lecturer in Biological Anthropology, Australian National University The author would like to acknowledge the paper’s co-author, former ANU Masters student Pippa Fitzgerald. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
ENDS
Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture

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S.E. Asia
India
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Sunda Clouded Leopard Neofelis diardi

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Glaucous Macaw Anodorhynchus glaucus

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Attenborough’s Long-Beaked Echidna Zaglossus attenboroughi

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Tufted Ground Squirrel Rheithrosciurus macrotis

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Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing

Read more about RSPO greenwashing

Lying
Fake labels
Indigenous Land-grabbing
Human rights abuses
Deforestation
Human health hazards
A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)
Read more

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Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

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The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

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How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

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3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
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King Colobus, Colobus polykomos | New England Primate Conservancy
The king colobus (Colobus polykomos) is native to the tropical lowland and montane rainforests on the western coast of Africa, from Gambia to Côte d’Ivoire.
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5 days ago

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The elusive and beautiful Marbled #Cat 🐱🫶 is a small #wildcat of #Asia. They're Near Threatened by #palmoil #deforestation 🌴🔥 #Chinese medicine 🔪 and #hunting. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife #Boycottpalmoil to help them 🌴🪔☠️🔥🧐⛔️ @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/07/24/marbled-cat-pardofelis-marmorata/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

Marbled Cat Pardofelis marmorata

Marbled Cat Pardofelis marmorata IUCN Status: Near Threatened Location: India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia (Sumatra, Borneo), China (Y…

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#News: 🌴🇲🇾 Malaysiakini and Pulitzer investigation in #Malaysia: #Pahang’s badly managed #palmoil threatens endangered #tigers #elephants, disrupts villages. Rife with #corruption at highest level. #BoycottPalmOil 🌴☠️⛔️#Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect
https://wp.me/pcFhgU-9GZ?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

The Great Malaysian Timber and Palm Oil Swindle

A joint investigation by Malaysiakini and Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network (RIN) reveals alarming deforestation in Pahang, #Malaysia, caused by one of the country’s largest #palm…

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#News #corruption #Malaysia #palmoil #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife #elephants #tigers #Pahang

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💀 Park rangers in #Honduras 🇭🇳 #SouthAmerica risk their lives every day to protect animals 🐒 #indigenous peoples and #rainforests from #palmoil plantations. Their fight is real. Resist when u shop! 💪 #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8YV?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

Deadly Harvest: How Demand for Palm Oil Fuels Corruption in Honduras

Latin America is the fastest-growing producer of palm oil, but at what price for the environment and its defenders? Park rangers in Honduras tell harrowing tales of daily threats to their lives and…

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#indigenous #palmoil #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife #honduras #southamerica #rainforests

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1 week ago

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Demystifying the Strange Beauty of the Proboscis Monkey’s Large Nose

Of all the #monkey species around the world, one stands out with its large, bizarre nose. In male proboscis monkeys, their bulbous noses will often hang past their mouths.
But why did they evolve such a strange feature? Are they a visual sign of health and status to potential female mates, and to other males? Or did they evolve to help the monkeys make honks and other loud sounds? New groundbreaking #research has much to reveal about the mysterious large nose of the Proboscis Monkey!

Fascinating and oddly beautiful Proboscis #Monkeys of #

Demystifying the Strange Beauty of the Proboscis Monkey’s Large Nose

Of all the #monkey species around the world, one stands out with its large, bizarre nose. In male proboscis monkeys, their bulbous noses will often hang past their mouths.
But why did they evolve such a strange feature? Are they a visual sign of health and status to potential female mates, and to other males? Or did they evolve to help the monkeys make honks and other loud sounds? New groundbreaking #research has much to reveal about the mysterious large nose of the Proboscis Monkey!

Fascinating and oddly beautiful Proboscis #Monkeys of #Malaysia #Indonesia, have webbed feet and live in harems. Now #researchers discovered why they have such long noses! Help them survive when you #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-5G6

Share to BlueSky
Share to Twitter

Gentle Proboscis #Monkeys of #Borneo are famous for their long noses. Until recently the reasons why baffled scientists, not anymore! They’re threatened by #palmoil #deforestation. You can help when you Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-5G6

Share to BlueSky
Share to Twitter

Written by Katharine Balolia, Senior Lecturer in Biological Anthropology, Australian National University The author would like to acknowledge the paper’s co-author, former ANU Masters student Pippa Fitzgerald. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Proboscis monkey side view with a large nose Slavianin/Shutterstock
In our new study, published in Scientific Reports, we have deepened our understanding of these enlarged nasal structures by investigating what lies beneath: the structures in the skull.

Our findings help to explain how these noses function as visual and acoustic signals of health and status. They also add to a growing body of evidence that shows researchers can use close examinations of skulls to glean information about primate social behaviour.

A battle of noses

One of the largest monkey species in Asia, proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus) are endemic to the island of Borneo. They live in coastal mangroves, peat swamps and riverine forests, and have an unusual diet made up mostly of leaves.

They can swim quite well and have webbed fingers and toes. They typically live in harem groups, made up of a single adult male (who tends to have a large, bulbous nose), some adult females and their offspring.

Males don’t often get the opportunity to attract a harem until they reach middle age. These older, dominant and large-nosed males don’t easily tolerate other large-nosed males, often trying to ward them off aggressively with deep honks and “nasal roars” – loud calls they make using their noses.

Young adult males with smaller noses often live in all-male bachelor groups, and don’t tend to fight aggressively with each other. When these bachelor males get older and become large (and large-nosed) enough to compete with males that are part of a breeding group, they are in a position to overthrow the tenured male. Females then often choose to form a harem group with this new, high-status male.
The nose is considerably smaller in female proboscis monkeys. Milan Zygmunt/Shutterstock

What’s behind the nose?

We investigated the size and shape of the proboscis monkey nasal cavity. That’s the bony chamber of the skull that sits behind the fleshy nose. Our goal was to find out if the size and shape of the nasal aperture – the front part of the cavity, where the fleshy nose tissue attaches – can tell us more about why these peculiar appendages evolved.

Previous research that looked at the bulbous nose in males suggests it evolved to advertise status. In our new research, we wanted to better understand how this could be the case, this time using data taken from the skull.

We used 3D surface models, downloaded from a public repository, to take size and shape measurements from 33 adult proboscis monkey skulls. We compared these with the adult skulls of king colobus monkeys, blue monkeys and crab-eating macaques, three old world monkey species.
Crab-eating macaques have tiny noses by comparison. Erik Klietsch/Shutterstock
We chose some measurements to quantify the nasal cavity, and others to quantify the nasal aperture in all the species. We also looked at tooth wear, since older adult monkeys have more worn teeth than younger adults. That would allow us to find out if older adult males had a larger nasal aperture than younger adult males.

Better honks

If male proboscis monkeys have a different nasal cavity shape to females, and a unique shape compared to the other monkey species, it would support the idea these enhanced nasal structures – both the fleshy nose and the cavity behind it – evolved to allow for more effective honks and nasal roars.

That was indeed what we found. The shape of the male nasal cavity was low and long compared to females. This allows males to build up resonance (sound vibration) in their nasal cavities, allowing them to emit deeper and louder calls through their noses.

The nasal aperture shape was also different between the sexes. In males, it looks a bit like an eggplant, while in females it looks more like an upside-down pear. This unique opening shape in males allows for higher intensity sounds to be emitted through the nose.
3D model screenshots of a male proboscis monkey (left) and a female proboscis monkey (right). Male nasal aperture size is 29% larger than that of females, and males and females differ in their nasal aperture shape. Katharine Balolia/Morphosource Media (USNM521841; ID 000345556 and USNM142224; ID 000345144)
The sex differences in cavity shape were also larger than what we found in other old world monkey species. This further supports the idea that the nasal cavity of male proboscis monkeys underwent an evolutionary change for the purpose of making certain sounds.

Lastly, the age. Older proboscis monkey males really do have larger nasal apertures than younger adult males, but the cavity itself didn’t increase with age. This supports the idea that the large noses act as a visual signal. It’s also consistent with the fleshy nose size increasing in middle-aged or older adult males, which we know from behavioural studies in the wild.
1336267 Making honks and nasal roars really does seem to be the evolutionary purpose of these fleshy noses. Nokuro/Shutterstock
Our evidence from the skull allows us to better understand how nasal structures in male proboscis monkeys evolved for both acoustic and visual signalling.

The more we know about how regions of the skull function as social signals, the better chance we have of reconstructing extinct primate social behaviour using fossilised skull remains.

ENDS

Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture

Global
South America
S.E. Asia
India
Africa
West Papua & PNG

Sunda Clouded Leopard Neofelis diardi

Keep reading

Glaucous Macaw Anodorhynchus glaucus

Keep reading

Attenborough’s Long-Beaked Echidna Zaglossus attenboroughi

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Nancy Ma’s Night Monkey Aotus nancymaae

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Maned Wolf Chrysocyon brachyurus

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Tufted Ground Squirrel Rheithrosciurus macrotis

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Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing

A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)

WHO Bulletin on Palm Oil: Deforestation and Extinction 1334732

WHO Bulletin on Palm Oil: Air Pollution and Health

Take Action in Five Ways

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

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King Colobus, Colobus polykomos | New England Primate Conservancy

The king colobus (Colobus polykomos) is native to the tropical lowland and montane rainforests on the western coast of Africa, from Gambia to Côte d’Ivoire.

^{New England Primate Conservancy}

Palm Oil Detectives

2025-03-22 14:54:00

Sunda Clouded Leopard Neofelis diardi
Sunda Clouded Leopard Neofelis diardi

IUCN Status: Vulnerable
Location: Brunei Darussalam; Indonesia (Sumatera, Kalimantan); Malaysia (Sarawak, Sabah)
Gliding through the rainforest canopy like a phantom predator, the Sunda Clouded Leopard moves with unmatched grace, making them one of the least understood big cats in the world. Their spectacularly patterned coat, the longest canines relative to skull size of any feline, and astonishing agility in trees set these big cats apart as a truly unique species. Yet, despite these remarkable adaptations, these mysterious carnivores are now rapidly vanishing from the wild due to human-related threats.
Massive infrastructure projects, industrial-scale palm oil plantations, and poaching for the illegal wildlife trade have decimated their populations. Once thought to be a subspecies of the mainland clouded leopard, genetic studies in 2006 confirmed that they are a distinct species, found only in Borneo and Sumatra. Today, they are among the most threatened felines in the world, teetering on the edge of an uncertain future. Take action for them every time you shop and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife

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Sunda Clouded #leopards are agile ambush #predators 🐆 of #gibbons, wild #pigs and mouse deer in #Borneo and #Sumatra. #Palmoil deforestation is a huge threat to these #BigCats. Help them when you #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🔥💀🚫#Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-anN
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Sleek and elegant wild #Cats 🐱🐆 of #Indonesia 🇮🇩 and #Malaysia 🇲🇾 Sunda Clouded #Leopards are #vulnerable due to #PalmOil #Deforestation and #poaching Help them when you 🌴🩸🔥⛔️ #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-anN
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Appearance & Behaviour

Sunda Clouded Leopards are expert climbers, possessing a long, thick tail (equal to their body length) for balance, rotating ankle joints that allow them to descend trees headfirst, and razor-sharp retractable claws for gripping bark. Their bodies are smaller and more compact than mainland clouded leopards, making them highly agile ambush predators.
They are solitary and nocturnal, moving silently through the forest to hunt primates, deer, and birds. Unlike most big cats, they purr rather than roar and rely on their extraordinarily developed senses to detect prey. Though they spend time on the forest floor, they are one of the most arboreal of all felines, capable of jumping several metres between branches.

Threats
1. Deforestation for infrastructure, timber and palm oil

More than 50% of Borneo’s forests and two-thirds of Sumatra’s forests have been destroyed, mainly for palm oil plantations and logging.
Mega infrastructure projects, including the Pan Borneo Highway, Trans-Sumatra Highway, and Indonesia’s new capital (Nusantara), are further severing vital forest corridors.
Illegal logging and forest conversion continue to reduce already fragmented populations, leaving them trapped in isolated forest patches.

2. Poaching and the Illegal Wildlife Trade

Highly valued for their skins, bones, and meat, they are frequently trapped in snares. Between 2011 and 2019, at least 30 individuals were seized in the illegal trade, with live animals smuggled internationally. The rise in commercial wildlife markets has put additional pressure on an already declining population.
3. Loss of Prey and Ecosystem Disruptions

Overhunting of deer, wild boar, and primates is drastically reducing their food supply. A 2024 study revealed that mesopredator release—where smaller carnivores like Sunda Leopard Cats increase in number—may be negatively impacting the number of clouded leopards.
4. Human-Wildlife Conflict and Retaliatory Killings

Farmers kill clouded leopards when they prey on livestock. With deforestation pushing them into human settlements, conflict is increasing.
5. Climate Change and Forest Fires

Longer dry seasons and extreme weather due to climate change are making rainforest habitats unstable and food sources scarcer. Fires, caused by land clearing for palm oil plantations, are destroying crucial remaining habitat.
Geographic Range

The Sunda Clouded Leopard (Neofelis diardi) is found only on the Southeast Asian islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Known locally as rimau-dahan (“tree tiger” in Malay) and entulu in Sarawak, these elusive big cats thrive in dense rainforests, where their exceptional climbing skills and camouflage allow them to hunt undetected. They are particularly dependent on lowland primary forests but have been increasingly pushed into montane and secondary forests due to rampant deforestation.
Key Habitats:

Sumatra – Leuser Ecosystem, Kerinci Seblat National Park, Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park
Borneo – Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo), Sabah and Sarawak (Malaysian Borneo), Brunei Darussalam
Heart of Borneo Landscape – This transboundary rainforest, spanning Brunei, Malaysian Borneo, and Indonesian Kalimantan, serves as one of the last strongholds for the species.

Diet

Sunda Clouded Leopards are apex rainforest predators, feeding on:
Primates – Gibbons, macaques, langurs
Ungulates – Mouse deer, muntjac, young bearded pigs
Birds, rodents, and reptiles
Occasionally livestock in fragmented forest areas
Their hunting strategy involves stealth and ambush, using their powerful jaws and canines to deliver a fatal bite to the neck. As their habitat shrinks, they are increasingly forced into human settlements, where they are often shot in retaliation.
Mating and Reproduction

Little is known about their breeding behaviour, however:
They reach sexual maturity at around two years old.
Gestation lasts 85–95 days, producing 1–5 cubs (typically 2).
Cubs remain hidden in dense vegetation for the first five months.
Mothers raise cubs alone, teaching them to hunt before they become independent.
Their slow reproductive rate, combined with habitat destruction, makes population recovery extremely difficult.

FAQs
Are Sunda Clouded Leopards dangerous to humans?

No. Sunda Clouded Leopards are extremely elusive and prefer to avoid human contact. They only venture into human areas when forced by habitat loss.
How are they different from mainland Clouded Leopards?

Sunda Clouded Leopards (Neofelis diardi) were originally thought to be the same species as the Indochinese Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), but genetic studies in 2006 confirmed that they are separate species.
• Genetic divergence: The two species diverged between 2 million and 900,000 years ago, likely when rising sea levels isolated Borneo and Sumatra from the mainland.
• Physical differences: Sunda Clouded Leopards have darker fur, smaller cloud markings, and a more robust build, whereas Indochinese Clouded Leopards are lighter in colour with larger, more defined markings.
• Habitat preferences: Sunda Clouded Leopards rarely descend to the forest floor, whereas Indochinese Clouded Leopards hunt both in trees and on the ground.
Why are they called “Tree Tigers”?

The Malay name rimau-dahan means “tree tiger”, as they are among the best tree-climbing predators in the world. This name comes from their incredible climbing skills and their resemblance to big cats like tigers. Their large paws, long tail, and flexible ankles make them exceptional tree climbers, often leaping between branches or ambushing prey from above.
Are Sunda Clouded Leopards extinct anywhere?

They were once found on Java, but are now extinct there.
How many Sunda Clouded Leopards are left?

Estimates suggest there are fewer than 10,000 mature individuals, but deforestation and poaching are causing rapid declines. Exact numbers are hard to determine due to their elusive nature.
Take Action!

Every time you shop, choose 100% palm oil-free products to avoid contributing to deforestation. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
Boycott palm oil and products that contribute to rainforest destruction.
Support conservation efforts protecting Borneo and Sumatra’s last remaining forests.
Advocate for stronger anti-poaching laws and enforcement.

Support Sunda Clouded Leopards by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife
Support the conservation of this species

This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Further Information

Cowan, C. (2024, April 29). Borneo and Sumatra megaprojects are carving up clouded leopard forests. Mongabay. https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/borneo-and-sumatra-megaprojects-are-carving-up-clouded-leopard-forests/
Buckley-Beason, V. A., Johnson, W. E., Nash, W. G., Stanyon, R., Menninger, J. C., Driscoll, C. A., Howard, J., Bush, M., Page, J. E., Roelke, M. E., Stone, G., Martelli, P., Wen, C., Ling, L., Duraisingam, R. K., Lam, P. V., & O’Brien, S. J. (2006). Molecular evidence for species-level distinctions in clouded leopards. Current Biology, 16(23), 2371–2376. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2006.08.066
Haidir, I., Macdonald, D. W., & Linkie, M. (2020). Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi) densities and human activities in the humid evergreen rainforests of Sumatra. Oryx, 55(2), 189-196. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605319001005
Hearn, A., Ross, J., Brodie, J., Cheyne, S., Haidir, I.A., Loken, B., Mathai, J., Wilting, A. & McCarthy, J. 2015. Neofelis diardi (errata version published in 2016). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T136603A97212874. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T136603A50664601.en. Accessed on 26 February 2025.
Kaszta, Z., Cushman, S. A., Hearn, A. J., Burnham, D., Macdonald, E. A., Goossens, B., Nathan, S., & Macdonald, D. W. (2019). Integrating Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi) conservation into development and restoration planning in Sabah, Borneo. Biological Conservation, 235(4). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.04.001
Mayhew, D. S., Hearn, A. J., Devineau, O., Linnell, J. D. C., & Macdonald, D. W. (2024). Loss of Sunda clouded leopards and forest integrity drive potential impacts of mesopredator release on vulnerable avifauna. Heliyon, 10(12), e32801. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e32801
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Sunda Clouded Leopard. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunda_clouded_leopard
Wong, W.-M. (2021, September 17). Species Spotlight: Sunda Clouded Leopard, the Ethereal and Declining ‘Tree Tiger’. The Revelator. https://therevelator.org/species-spotlight-sunda-clouded-leopard/

How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?

Take Action in Five Ways

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Read more
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

Read more
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
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Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture

Global
South America
S.E. Asia
India
Africa
West Papua & PNG
Glaucous Macaw Anodorhynchus glaucus

Keep reading
Attenborough’s Long-Beaked Echidna Zaglossus attenboroughi

Keep reading
Nancy Ma’s Night Monkey Aotus nancymaae

Keep reading
Maned Wolf Chrysocyon brachyurus

Keep reading
Tufted Ground Squirrel Rheithrosciurus macrotis

Keep reading
Visayan Broadbill Sarcophanops samarensis

Keep reading
Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing

Read more about RSPO greenwashing

Lying
Fake labels
Indigenous Land-grabbing
Human rights abuses
Deforestation
Human health hazards
A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)
Read more

#animals #bigCat #bigcat #bigcats #Borneo #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #Brunei #carnivores #cats #deforestation #ForgottenAnimals #Gibbons #hunting #Indonesia #Kalimantan #leopard #leopards #Malaysia #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #Pigs #poaching #predators #Sarawak #SEAsia #SouthEastAsia #Sumatra #SundaCloudedLeopardNeofelisDiardi #vulnerable

Species Spotlight: Sunda Clouded Leopard, the Ethereal and Declining ‘Tree Tiger’ • The Revelator
Isolated on just two islands in Asia, this forest-dependent wild cat persists in the region experiencing the world’s fastest deforestation.
^{Wai-Ming Wong (The Revelator)}

#monkey #Research #indonesia #Malaysia #researchers #palmoil #deforestation #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife #animalrights #borneo #Monkeys #animalbehaviour #southeastasia #palmOilDeforestation #AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalCommunication #animalIntelligence #ProboscisMonkeyNasalisLarvatus

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Palm Oil Detectives

2025-03-29 15:10:00

Demystifying the Strange Beauty of the Proboscis Monkey’s Large Nose
Of all the #monkey species around the world, one stands out with its large, bizarre nose. In male proboscis monkeys, their bulbous noses will often hang past their mouths.
But why did they evolve such a strange feature? Are they a visual sign of health and status to potential female mates, and to other males? Or did they evolve to help the monkeys make honks and other loud sounds? New groundbreaking #research has much to reveal about the mysterious large nose of the Proboscis Monkey!
Fascinating and oddly beautiful Proboscis #Monkeys of #Malaysia #Indonesia, have webbed feet and live in harems. Now #researchers discovered why they have such long noses! Help them survive when you #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-5G6
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Gentle Proboscis #Monkeys of #Borneo are famous for their long noses. Until recently the reasons why baffled scientists, not anymore! They’re threatened by #palmoil #deforestation. You can help when you Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-5G6
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Written by Katharine Balolia, Senior Lecturer in Biological Anthropology, Australian National University The author would like to acknowledge the paper’s co-author, former ANU Masters student Pippa Fitzgerald. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Proboscis monkey side view with a large nose Slavianin/Shutterstock
In our new study, published in Scientific Reports, we have deepened our understanding of these enlarged nasal structures by investigating what lies beneath: the structures in the skull.
Our findings help to explain how these noses function as visual and acoustic signals of health and status. They also add to a growing body of evidence that shows researchers can use close examinations of skulls to glean information about primate social behaviour.
A battle of noses

One of the largest monkey species in Asia, proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus) are endemic to the island of Borneo. They live in coastal mangroves, peat swamps and riverine forests, and have an unusual diet made up mostly of leaves.
They can swim quite well and have webbed fingers and toes. They typically live in harem groups, made up of a single adult male (who tends to have a large, bulbous nose), some adult females and their offspring.
Males don’t often get the opportunity to attract a harem until they reach middle age. These older, dominant and large-nosed males don’t easily tolerate other large-nosed males, often trying to ward them off aggressively with deep honks and “nasal roars” – loud calls they make using their noses.
Young adult males with smaller noses often live in all-male bachelor groups, and don’t tend to fight aggressively with each other. When these bachelor males get older and become large (and large-nosed) enough to compete with males that are part of a breeding group, they are in a position to overthrow the tenured male. Females then often choose to form a harem group with this new, high-status male.
The nose is considerably smaller in female proboscis monkeys. Milan Zygmunt/Shutterstock
What’s behind the nose?

We investigated the size and shape of the proboscis monkey nasal cavity. That’s the bony chamber of the skull that sits behind the fleshy nose. Our goal was to find out if the size and shape of the nasal aperture – the front part of the cavity, where the fleshy nose tissue attaches – can tell us more about why these peculiar appendages evolved.
Previous research that looked at the bulbous nose in males suggests it evolved to advertise status. In our new research, we wanted to better understand how this could be the case, this time using data taken from the skull.
We used 3D surface models, downloaded from a public repository, to take size and shape measurements from 33 adult proboscis monkey skulls. We compared these with the adult skulls of king colobus monkeys, blue monkeys and crab-eating macaques, three old world monkey species.
Crab-eating macaques have tiny noses by comparison. Erik Klietsch/Shutterstock
We chose some measurements to quantify the nasal cavity, and others to quantify the nasal aperture in all the species. We also looked at tooth wear, since older adult monkeys have more worn teeth than younger adults. That would allow us to find out if older adult males had a larger nasal aperture than younger adult males.
Better honks

If male proboscis monkeys have a different nasal cavity shape to females, and a unique shape compared to the other monkey species, it would support the idea these enhanced nasal structures – both the fleshy nose and the cavity behind it – evolved to allow for more effective honks and nasal roars.
That was indeed what we found. The shape of the male nasal cavity was low and long compared to females. This allows males to build up resonance (sound vibration) in their nasal cavities, allowing them to emit deeper and louder calls through their noses.
The nasal aperture shape was also different between the sexes. In males, it looks a bit like an eggplant, while in females it looks more like an upside-down pear. This unique opening shape in males allows for higher intensity sounds to be emitted through the nose.
3D model screenshots of a male proboscis monkey (left) and a female proboscis monkey (right). Male nasal aperture size is 29% larger than that of females, and males and females differ in their nasal aperture shape. Katharine Balolia/Morphosource Media (USNM521841; ID 000345556 and USNM142224; ID 000345144)
The sex differences in cavity shape were also larger than what we found in other old world monkey species. This further supports the idea that the nasal cavity of male proboscis monkeys underwent an evolutionary change for the purpose of making certain sounds.
Lastly, the age. Older proboscis monkey males really do have larger nasal apertures than younger adult males, but the cavity itself didn’t increase with age. This supports the idea that the large noses act as a visual signal. It’s also consistent with the fleshy nose size increasing in middle-aged or older adult males, which we know from behavioural studies in the wild.
Making honks and nasal roars really does seem to be the evolutionary purpose of these fleshy noses. Nokuro/Shutterstock
Our evidence from the skull allows us to better understand how nasal structures in male proboscis monkeys evolved for both acoustic and visual signalling.
The more we know about how regions of the skull function as social signals, the better chance we have of reconstructing extinct primate social behaviour using fossilised skull remains.
Written by Katharine Balolia, Senior Lecturer in Biological Anthropology, Australian National University The author would like to acknowledge the paper’s co-author, former ANU Masters student Pippa Fitzgerald. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
ENDS
Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture

Global
South America
S.E. Asia
India
Africa
West Papua & PNG
Sunda Clouded Leopard Neofelis diardi

Keep reading
Glaucous Macaw Anodorhynchus glaucus

Keep reading
Attenborough’s Long-Beaked Echidna Zaglossus attenboroughi

Keep reading
Nancy Ma’s Night Monkey Aotus nancymaae

Keep reading
Maned Wolf Chrysocyon brachyurus

Keep reading
Tufted Ground Squirrel Rheithrosciurus macrotis

Keep reading
Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing

Read more about RSPO greenwashing

Lying
Fake labels
Indigenous Land-grabbing
Human rights abuses
Deforestation
Human health hazards
A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)
Read more

Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
WordPress
YouTube
Mail
Mastodon

Sign Up
2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Read more
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Read more
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Read more
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

Read more
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

Read more
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support
#animalBehaviour #AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalCommunication #animalIntelligence #animalRights #Borneo #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #deforestation #Indonesia #Malaysia #monkey #monkeys #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #ProboscisMonkeyNasalisLarvatus #research #Researchers #SouthEastAsia

King Colobus, Colobus polykomos | New England Primate Conservancy
The king colobus (Colobus polykomos) is native to the tropical lowland and montane rainforests on the western coast of Africa, from Gambia to Côte d’Ivoire.
^{New England Primate Conservancy}

#palmoil #deforestation #Boycott4Wildlife #borneo #Monkeys

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Nurturing small monkeys with big eyes, Nancy Ma's Night Monkeys care in convivial family groups. Threats: capture for use in medical research 👎 and #palmoil #deforestation 🪔 #BanPrimateExperiments 🙈#Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8Hi?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

Nancy Ma’s Night Monkey Aotus nancymaae

Deep in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, the Nancy Ma’s night monkeys peer out of the trees during the dusk with their large, soulful eyes and striking facial markings. Also known as the Ma’s ni…

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The #Shoebill is a magnificent and gentle big bird 🕊️🦤 with an unnerving stare 👀 There are only 8000 left alive in #DRC, #Uganda #Africa. Vulnerable from #palmoil #deforestation, #hunting and more. Fight for them! #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/09/10/shoebill-balaeniceps-rex/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

Shoebill Balaeniceps rex

Known for their unnerving and intense stare and imposing, prehistoric appearance – shoebills are magnificent birds. There are less than 8000 individual birds left alive. They are vulnerable f…

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Experts fear a #palmoil #biofuel boom may drive massive #deforestation in #Indonesia, threaten the world’s 3rd largest #rainforest and send irreplaceable #animals and plants to extinction #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8Vs

How does Indonesia’s palm oil industry fuel the climate crisis?

Booming global demand for the vegetable oil is spurring deforestation in Indonesia. Indonesia accounts for more than half of the global palm oil supply, the world’s most widely used vegetable oil t…

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@Greenpeace report finds #seafood certified by #MSC 🐠 and #palmoil certified by #RSPO is "absolutely untrustworthy" in 2025. Resist the #ecocide and #greed. Adopt a #Vegan lifestyle and #BoycottPalmOil 🌴⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife when you shop @palmoildetect
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Greenpeace Report Slams MSC and RSPO as ‘Absolutely Untrustworthy’ for Seafood and Palm Oil

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Orinoco Crocodile Crocodylus intermedius

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Palm Oil Protesters Silenced and Arrested in Congo

On Tuesday, April 30, 2024, a shocking and disgraceful incident occurred in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). During a meeting of shareholders from Plantations et Hui…

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Superb #Birds 🦜💚 of Paradise live up to their namesake with awesome antics! 🎶💃🌈✨🎇. Threats include: #hunting #mining #palmoil #deforestation in #WestPapua and #PapuaNewGuinea 🇵🇬 Help them and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife

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Vogelkop Superb Bird of Paradise Lophorina superba

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Bonobo Pan paniscus

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Goliath Frog Conraua goliath

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Bonobo Pan paniscus

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Beyond Cute: All Animals Can Become Social Media Sensations

In the age of cutesy #mammal sensations like pygmy hippo #MooDeng the chubby, pink-cheeked pygmy #hippo baby – many people believe that social media shares are correlated to cuteness. They are wrong, according to a recent study, more obscure and unusual animals like #insects, #amphibians, #reptiles and #insects can enjoy a generous portion of the social media limelight. Help them every time you shop and #

Beyond Cute: All Animals Can Become Social Media Sensations

In the age of cutesy #mammal sensations like pygmy hippo #MooDeng the chubby, pink-cheeked pygmy #hippo baby – many people believe that social media shares are correlated to cuteness. They are wrong, according to a recent study, more obscure and unusual animals like #insects, #amphibians, #reptiles and #insects can enjoy a generous portion of the social media limelight. Help them every time you shop and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife

https://youtu.be/hFfsonkN1Vc

Cutesy #animals like #MooDeng🦛 the chubby-cheeked pygmy #hippo lead many to believe #socialmedia shares are correlated to #cuteness – they’re wrong. All animals can enjoy the spotlight Protect them when u #Boycott4Wildlife #BoycottPalmOil @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-974

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Pygmy Hippopotamus Choeropsis liberiensis GIF

Cutesy or not: animals can be showcased on social media with the right storytelling and still gain big audience engagement

Remember the popularity contests of high school? Often our athletic, genetically gifted classmates got the most attention: the school captain, the footy team captain, the prom queen. But popularity contests don’t just exist in school. And in the world of conservation, it can be a matter of survival for the “winners” and “losers”.

If we asked you to list every animal species you can think of, chances are that list would be full of mammals and birds, with very few reptiles, fish, amphibians and invertebrates. So why do we focus so much on some species and so little on others?

Our recent study challenges assumptions that people simply find mammals and birds much more engaging than other species. When these neglected species were posted to Instagram by wildlife organisations and researchers, there were no great differences in the likes they attracted.

This has implications for which species we focus on to enlist public support for conservation. A more complete picture of the wildlife around us would help reduce glaring imbalances in conservation outcomes.

Our cognitive bias towards the cutest and fluffiest

For years, we’ve assumed humans engage more with the “cute and fluffy” species – often known as “charismatic megafauna” – and these are the animals that are shown to us on TV, film and advertising. There is evidence to support this preference. People will often choose to donate to mammals and birds over other species, and mammals and birds are mentioned more on social media.

However, mammals and birds make up less than 10% of all animals on Earth. With the media we’re consuming, we’re just not getting an accurate picture of the world of wildlife that surrounds us.
Where this gets worrying is in the fight for species survival. Our planet is in an extinction crisis, with species becoming extinct at extraordinary rates.

However, our focus on mammals and birds means cute and fluffy animals receive more research attention and funding. Conservation outcomes for these species are better than for reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. Tellingly, 94% of all threatened species on the IUCN Red List are reptiles, fish, amphibians and invertebrates.

Do people really prefer charismatic megafauna?

Our study suggests this issue may be more complex than first thought. Many Australian conservation organisations use social media platforms, such as Instagram, to share their work and connect communities with wildlife. But in the busy, ever-updating world of Instagram feeds, which images are the most effective at grabbing someone’s attention?

We set out to examine which Australian wildlife species were most often posted to Instagram and which had the highest levels of engagement. Based on the belief that people will engage more with charismatic megafauna, we expected mammals and birds to be shown more frequently and to elicit higher engagement than the “creepy crawlies” such as amphibians and insects.

We analysed 670 wildlife images posted to Instagram by wildlife organisations and research group accounts in 2020 and 2021. For each image, we noted the species posted in the image. As a measure of engagement, we recorded the number of “likes” the image received in proportion to each organisation’s follower count.
An example of the Instagram posts that were analysed, and the information collected. Meghan Shaw, CC BY

What did the study find?

Our results were surprising and provide hope for the future of underrepresented wildlife.

Although the majority of wildlife images posted to Instagram by these conservation organisations were of mammals and birds (73.7% to be precise), our analysis of image engagement uncovered a surprising and promising trend. Mammals were, indeed, more engaging than other species, but only by a tiny amount. We found birds, reptiles, invertebrates, amphibians and fish were all equally as engaging for Instagram users.
The amount of engagement posts featuring each group of animal (taxon) received. Categories that do not share letters are significantly different from each other, e.g. mammals (b) received higher engagement than invertebrates, birds and reptiles (a) but not molluscs, fish or amphibians (ab). All significant differences were relatively small (1-2%). Author provided, CC BY

Are we ready to sympathise with weird bugs?

Perhaps it is time to give our creepy crawlies more of the media limelight. The more we see a wide diversity of animals, the more likely we are to support their conservation.

The Theory of Repeated Messaging suggests when we are repeatedly exposed to something, we are more likely to become familiar with, engage with and support it. Research has shown when we put effort into promoting underrepresented species, we can improve their chances of receiving a public donation by 26%.
Will we come to love the hibiscus harlequin bug (Tectocoris diophthalmus)? Magdalena_b/Flickr
Our findings suggest the media and conservation organisations can promote endangered species across all walks of life – from lizards to bugs and fish to frogs – without compromising viewer engagement. This will increase our knowledge of the amazing diversity of animals that we share this planet with. In turn, this will lead to underrepresented species receiving more of the conservation support they need to survive.

Zoos Victoria is already leading the way. The endangered native golden-rayed blue butterfly features in the new Totes for Wildlife campaign to conserve its natural habitat.

Perhaps we tend to prefer mammals and birds because we see them more, and not just because they look a certain way. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Written by Meghan Shaw, PhD Student in Conservation Social Science, Deakin University; Bill Borrie, Associate Professor, Environmental Management and Sustainability, Deakin University; Emily McLeod, Senior Social Science Research Manager, Zoos Victoria, and PhD Candidate, The University of Queensland, and Kelly K Miller, Associate Professor of Environment and Society, Deakin University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)

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Pygmy Hippopotamus Choeropsis liberiensis

If You Love Moo Deng, Help to Save Her Home!

Moo Deng, the chubby, moody and adorable baby pygmy hippo has highlighted the plight of these elusive large mammals living in Africa’s rainforest and mangrove environments. The message to ani…

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2025-03-22 14:54:00

Sunda Clouded Leopard Neofelis diardi
Sunda Clouded Leopard Neofelis diardi

IUCN Status: Vulnerable
Location: Brunei Darussalam; Indonesia (Sumatera, Kalimantan); Malaysia (Sarawak, Sabah)
Gliding through the rainforest canopy like a phantom predator, the Sunda Clouded Leopard moves with unmatched grace, making them one of the least understood big cats in the world. Their spectacularly patterned coat, the longest canines relative to skull size of any feline, and astonishing agility in trees set these big cats apart as a truly unique species. Yet, despite these remarkable adaptations, these mysterious carnivores are now rapidly vanishing from the wild due to human-related threats.
Massive infrastructure projects, industrial-scale palm oil plantations, and poaching for the illegal wildlife trade have decimated their populations. Once thought to be a subspecies of the mainland clouded leopard, genetic studies in 2006 confirmed that they are a distinct species, found only in Borneo and Sumatra. Today, they are among the most threatened felines in the world, teetering on the edge of an uncertain future. Take action for them every time you shop and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife

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Sunda Clouded #leopards are agile ambush #predators 🐆 of #gibbons, wild #pigs and mouse deer in #Borneo and #Sumatra. #Palmoil deforestation is a huge threat to these #BigCats. Help them when you #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🔥💀🚫#Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-anN
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Sleek and elegant wild #Cats 🐱🐆 of #Indonesia 🇮🇩 and #Malaysia 🇲🇾 Sunda Clouded #Leopards are #vulnerable due to #PalmOil #Deforestation and #poaching Help them when you 🌴🩸🔥⛔️ #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-anN
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Appearance & Behaviour

Sunda Clouded Leopards are expert climbers, possessing a long, thick tail (equal to their body length) for balance, rotating ankle joints that allow them to descend trees headfirst, and razor-sharp retractable claws for gripping bark. Their bodies are smaller and more compact than mainland clouded leopards, making them highly agile ambush predators.
They are solitary and nocturnal, moving silently through the forest to hunt primates, deer, and birds. Unlike most big cats, they purr rather than roar and rely on their extraordinarily developed senses to detect prey. Though they spend time on the forest floor, they are one of the most arboreal of all felines, capable of jumping several metres between branches.

Threats
1. Deforestation for infrastructure, timber and palm oil

More than 50% of Borneo’s forests and two-thirds of Sumatra’s forests have been destroyed, mainly for palm oil plantations and logging.
Mega infrastructure projects, including the Pan Borneo Highway, Trans-Sumatra Highway, and Indonesia’s new capital (Nusantara), are further severing vital forest corridors.
Illegal logging and forest conversion continue to reduce already fragmented populations, leaving them trapped in isolated forest patches.

2. Poaching and the Illegal Wildlife Trade

Highly valued for their skins, bones, and meat, they are frequently trapped in snares. Between 2011 and 2019, at least 30 individuals were seized in the illegal trade, with live animals smuggled internationally. The rise in commercial wildlife markets has put additional pressure on an already declining population.
3. Loss of Prey and Ecosystem Disruptions

Overhunting of deer, wild boar, and primates is drastically reducing their food supply. A 2024 study revealed that mesopredator release—where smaller carnivores like Sunda Leopard Cats increase in number—may be negatively impacting the number of clouded leopards.
4. Human-Wildlife Conflict and Retaliatory Killings

Farmers kill clouded leopards when they prey on livestock. With deforestation pushing them into human settlements, conflict is increasing.
5. Climate Change and Forest Fires

Longer dry seasons and extreme weather due to climate change are making rainforest habitats unstable and food sources scarcer. Fires, caused by land clearing for palm oil plantations, are destroying crucial remaining habitat.
Geographic Range

The Sunda Clouded Leopard (Neofelis diardi) is found only on the Southeast Asian islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Known locally as rimau-dahan (“tree tiger” in Malay) and entulu in Sarawak, these elusive big cats thrive in dense rainforests, where their exceptional climbing skills and camouflage allow them to hunt undetected. They are particularly dependent on lowland primary forests but have been increasingly pushed into montane and secondary forests due to rampant deforestation.
Key Habitats:

Sumatra – Leuser Ecosystem, Kerinci Seblat National Park, Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park
Borneo – Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo), Sabah and Sarawak (Malaysian Borneo), Brunei Darussalam
Heart of Borneo Landscape – This transboundary rainforest, spanning Brunei, Malaysian Borneo, and Indonesian Kalimantan, serves as one of the last strongholds for the species.

Diet

Sunda Clouded Leopards are apex rainforest predators, feeding on:
Primates – Gibbons, macaques, langurs
Ungulates – Mouse deer, muntjac, young bearded pigs
Birds, rodents, and reptiles
Occasionally livestock in fragmented forest areas
Their hunting strategy involves stealth and ambush, using their powerful jaws and canines to deliver a fatal bite to the neck. As their habitat shrinks, they are increasingly forced into human settlements, where they are often shot in retaliation.
Mating and Reproduction

Little is known about their breeding behaviour, however:
They reach sexual maturity at around two years old.
Gestation lasts 85–95 days, producing 1–5 cubs (typically 2).
Cubs remain hidden in dense vegetation for the first five months.
Mothers raise cubs alone, teaching them to hunt before they become independent.
Their slow reproductive rate, combined with habitat destruction, makes population recovery extremely difficult.

FAQs
Are Sunda Clouded Leopards dangerous to humans?

No. Sunda Clouded Leopards are extremely elusive and prefer to avoid human contact. They only venture into human areas when forced by habitat loss.
How are they different from mainland Clouded Leopards?

Sunda Clouded Leopards (Neofelis diardi) were originally thought to be the same species as the Indochinese Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), but genetic studies in 2006 confirmed that they are separate species.
• Genetic divergence: The two species diverged between 2 million and 900,000 years ago, likely when rising sea levels isolated Borneo and Sumatra from the mainland.
• Physical differences: Sunda Clouded Leopards have darker fur, smaller cloud markings, and a more robust build, whereas Indochinese Clouded Leopards are lighter in colour with larger, more defined markings.
• Habitat preferences: Sunda Clouded Leopards rarely descend to the forest floor, whereas Indochinese Clouded Leopards hunt both in trees and on the ground.
Why are they called “Tree Tigers”?

The Malay name rimau-dahan means “tree tiger”, as they are among the best tree-climbing predators in the world. This name comes from their incredible climbing skills and their resemblance to big cats like tigers. Their large paws, long tail, and flexible ankles make them exceptional tree climbers, often leaping between branches or ambushing prey from above.
Are Sunda Clouded Leopards extinct anywhere?

They were once found on Java, but are now extinct there.
How many Sunda Clouded Leopards are left?

Estimates suggest there are fewer than 10,000 mature individuals, but deforestation and poaching are causing rapid declines. Exact numbers are hard to determine due to their elusive nature.
Take Action!

Every time you shop, choose 100% palm oil-free products to avoid contributing to deforestation. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
Boycott palm oil and products that contribute to rainforest destruction.
Support conservation efforts protecting Borneo and Sumatra’s last remaining forests.
Advocate for stronger anti-poaching laws and enforcement.

Support Sunda Clouded Leopards by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife
Support the conservation of this species

This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Further Information

Cowan, C. (2024, April 29). Borneo and Sumatra megaprojects are carving up clouded leopard forests. Mongabay. https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/borneo-and-sumatra-megaprojects-are-carving-up-clouded-leopard-forests/
Buckley-Beason, V. A., Johnson, W. E., Nash, W. G., Stanyon, R., Menninger, J. C., Driscoll, C. A., Howard, J., Bush, M., Page, J. E., Roelke, M. E., Stone, G., Martelli, P., Wen, C., Ling, L., Duraisingam, R. K., Lam, P. V., & O’Brien, S. J. (2006). Molecular evidence for species-level distinctions in clouded leopards. Current Biology, 16(23), 2371–2376. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2006.08.066
Haidir, I., Macdonald, D. W., & Linkie, M. (2020). Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi) densities and human activities in the humid evergreen rainforests of Sumatra. Oryx, 55(2), 189-196. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605319001005
Hearn, A., Ross, J., Brodie, J., Cheyne, S., Haidir, I.A., Loken, B., Mathai, J., Wilting, A. & McCarthy, J. 2015. Neofelis diardi (errata version published in 2016). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T136603A97212874. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T136603A50664601.en. Accessed on 26 February 2025.
Kaszta, Z., Cushman, S. A., Hearn, A. J., Burnham, D., Macdonald, E. A., Goossens, B., Nathan, S., & Macdonald, D. W. (2019). Integrating Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi) conservation into development and restoration planning in Sabah, Borneo. Biological Conservation, 235(4). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.04.001
Mayhew, D. S., Hearn, A. J., Devineau, O., Linnell, J. D. C., & Macdonald, D. W. (2024). Loss of Sunda clouded leopards and forest integrity drive potential impacts of mesopredator release on vulnerable avifauna. Heliyon, 10(12), e32801. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e32801
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Sunda Clouded Leopard. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunda_clouded_leopard
Wong, W.-M. (2021, September 17). Species Spotlight: Sunda Clouded Leopard, the Ethereal and Declining ‘Tree Tiger’. The Revelator. https://therevelator.org/species-spotlight-sunda-clouded-leopard/

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Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture

Global
South America
S.E. Asia
India
Africa
West Papua & PNG
Glaucous Macaw Anodorhynchus glaucus

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Attenborough’s Long-Beaked Echidna Zaglossus attenboroughi

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Nancy Ma’s Night Monkey Aotus nancymaae

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Maned Wolf Chrysocyon brachyurus

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Tufted Ground Squirrel Rheithrosciurus macrotis

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Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing

Read more about RSPO greenwashing

Lying
Fake labels
Indigenous Land-grabbing
Human rights abuses
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A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)
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#animals #bigCat #bigcat #bigcats #Borneo #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #Brunei #carnivores #cats #deforestation #ForgottenAnimals #Gibbons #hunting #Indonesia #Kalimantan #leopard #leopards #Malaysia #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #Pigs #poaching #predators #Sarawak #SEAsia #SouthEastAsia #Sumatra #SundaCloudedLeopardNeofelisDiardi #vulnerable

Species Spotlight: Sunda Clouded Leopard, the Ethereal and Declining ‘Tree Tiger’ • The Revelator
Isolated on just two islands in Asia, this forest-dependent wild cat persists in the region experiencing the world’s fastest deforestation.
^{Wai-Ming Wong (The Revelator)}

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Palm Oil Detectives

1 week ago

Palm Oil Detectives
1 week ago

Sumatran #elephants 🐘🩶 in #Indonesia’s 🇮🇩North Aceh are encircled by dead lands 🔥🌴🩸🔥 rainforests now gone for #palmoil plantations. Help them each time you shop! #Boycottpalmoil 🌴💀🤢🔫🙊⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/02/01/sumatran-elephants-surrounded-by-palm-oil-and-nobody-knows-how-many-are-left-alive/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

Sumatran elephants: Surrounded by palm oil and nobody knows how many are left alive!

Sumatran elephants in Indonesia’s North Aceh district are being increasingly encircled by shrinking patches of forest. Their home is being destroyed primarily for oil palm plantations. Ongoing atte…

^{Palm Oil Detectives}

#indonesia #palmoil #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife #elephants

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Palm Oil Detectives

1 week ago

Palm Oil Detectives
1 week ago

The Thomas's #Langur has striking stripes 🐵🐒🤎 They're #vulnerable due to forest clearance for #palmoil and #timber in #Sumatra #Indonesia 🇮🇩 Protect this rare #monkey when you shop and #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🪔☠️🩸🤮🙊🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife

http://palmoildetectives.com/2021/01/24/thomass-langur-presbytis-thomasi/

Thomas’s Langur Presbytis thomasi

Thomas’s Langur, also known as the North Sumatran Leaf #Monkey is famous for their bold facial stripes giving them a handsome profile. These monkeys are endemic to the lush forests of northern Suma…

^{Palm Oil Detectives}

#monkey #indonesia #palmoil #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife #timber #sumatra #vulnerable #langur

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Palm Oil Detectives

1 week ago

Palm Oil Detectives
1 week ago

One of #WestAfrica and the world’s most endangered #primates 🐵you’ve never heard of is the enchanting Western Red #Colobus of #SierraLeone 🇸🇱 #Liberia 🇱🇷 #PalmOil 🌴☠️ and #poaching are major threats. #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/02/15/western-red-colobus-piliocolobus-badius/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

Western Red Colobus Piliocolobus badius

The Western Red Colobus Piliocolobus badius is one of West Africa’s most #endangered #primates, facing an escalating crisis of habitat loss and overhunting. Once abundant in mature forests across t…

^{Palm Oil Detectives}

#palmoil #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife #poaching #Liberia #WestAfrica #primates #sierraleone #colobus

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Palm Oil Detectives

1 week ago

Palm Oil Detectives
1 week ago

http://palmoildetectives.com/2023/11/26/margay-leopardus-wiedii/

Margay Leopardus wiedii

Graceful, athletic and beautiful feline of the Amazon jungle, margays are small wild cats endemic to South and Central America. Every margay has a unique spotted pattern on their coat. They depend …

^{Palm Oil Detectives}

#vegan #Meat #palmoil #deforestation #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife #Soy #southamerica #poaching #margay

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Palm Oil Detectives

1 week ago

Palm Oil Detectives
1 week ago

So-called "sustainable" #palmoil certified by #RSPO originating in #Guatemala 🇬🇹 is strongly connected to #deforestation and #ecocide finds @UMich study. Help #rainforests and fight #extinction #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife 🌴🪔🔥☠️🚫 @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/07/26/palm-oil-deforestation-in-guatemala-certifying-products-as-sustainable-is-no-panacea-university-of-michigan/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

Research: Certifying Palm Oil as “Sustainable” Is No Panacea

Newly published research from the University of Michigan reveals that despite the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification system being influential, its effectiveness in reducing def…

^{Palm Oil Detectives}

#extinction #guatemala #palmoil #deforestation #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife #ecocide #rainforests #RSPO

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Items tagged with: Palmoil

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Items tagged with: Palmoil

Palm Oil Detectives 7 hours ago

Orange-breasted Falcon Falco deiroleucus

Orange-breasted Falcon Falco deiroleucus

Near Threatened

Appearance & Behaviour

Threats

Habitat

Diet

Mating and breeding

Support Orange-breasted Falcon by going vegan and boycotting palm oil, gold and meat when you shop, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife

Support the conservation of this species

Further Information

How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?

Take Action in Five Ways

Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture

Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing

Read more about RSPO greenwashing

A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)

Sunda Clouded Leopard Neofelis diardi

Sunda Clouded Leopard Neofelis diardi

Appearance & Behaviour

Threats

1. Deforestation for infrastructure, timber and palm oil

2. Poaching and the Illegal Wildlife Trade

3. Loss of Prey and Ecosystem Disruptions

4. Human-Wildlife Conflict and Retaliatory Killings

5. Climate Change and Forest Fires

Geographic Range

Key Habitats:

Diet

Mating and Reproduction

FAQs

Are Sunda Clouded Leopards dangerous to humans?

How are they different from mainland Clouded Leopards?

Why are they called “Tree Tigers”?

Are Sunda Clouded Leopards extinct anywhere?

How many Sunda Clouded Leopards are left?

Take Action!

Support Sunda Clouded Leopards by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife

Support the conservation of this species

Further Information

How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?

Take Action in Five Ways

Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture

Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing

Read more about RSPO greenwashing

A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)

Palm Oil Detectives 7 hours ago

Orange-breasted Falcon Falco deiroleucus

Orange-breasted Falcon Falco deiroleucus

Near Threatened

Appearance & Behaviour

Threats

Habitat

Diet

Mating and breeding

Support Orange-breasted Falcon by going vegan and boycotting palm oil, gold and meat when you shop, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife

Support the conservation of this species

Further Information

How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?

Take Action in Five Ways

Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture

Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing

Read more about RSPO greenwashing

A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)

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