SEATTLE - Woodland Park Zoo regrets to announce the death of an 11-year-old endangered clouded leopard. Despite efforts to save the male cat, he died this past Saturday morning at the zoo's animal health hospital. A gross necropsy revealed internal bleeding from both his large and small intestine. Histopathology results are pending to determine the cause of the internal bleeding. Clouded leopards can live up to 17 years in zoos.

The cat was born at the Buffalo Zoo and arrived at Woodland Park nine years ago. He was hospitalized early last week due to complications associated with anemia, explained zoo Associate Veterinarian Dr. Darin Collins. “Following examinations that revealed a low red blood cell count, we administered two blood infusions from a female clouded leopard at Woodland Park Zoo and from a male clouded leopard at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium,” added Collins.

Clouded leopards are distributed throughout southcentral and southeastern Asia in the countries of India, China, Nepal, Myanmar, Borneo and Taiwan, and from Indochina to the island of Sumatra where they live in dense forests and are found at elevations of up to 6,560 feet. The cats are endangered due to habitat destruction caused by agriculture practices and logging. This destruction fragments the cats’ environments, making it very hard for related animals to disperse and for unrelated animals to meet and breed.

Woodland Park Zoo participates in the American Zoo and Aquarium Association’s (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP) for the clouded leopard. The AZA’s cooperative breeding programs work to ensure genetic diversity and demographic stability in North American zoos and aquariums. Additionally, SSPs involve a variety of other collaborative conservation activities such as research, public education, reintroduction and field projects. AZA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and aquariums in the areas of conservation, education, science and recreation, with more than 205 zoos and aquariums as members.