A clouded leopard, a rare species under top government protection in China, was recently spotted in southwest China's Sichuan Province after having disappeared from the region for half a century.
The 13-kilogram, 1.5-meter-long leopard was recently caught in Changning County when stealing poultry from a farmer who mistook it for an ordinary leopard.
Local zoologists confirmed that the leopard is a young female clouded leopard and deduced that it was born by the same mother as a male clouded leopard caught earlier because the two are similar in physique and weight.
Currently, the two clouded leopards are being kept at the Zhuhai (Bamboo Sea) Nature Preserve and will be returned to nature when they grew up.
The clouded leopard, native to areas south of the Yangtze River, is an intelligent animal on the top of the government protection list with the giant panda and golden monkey.
(Xinhua News Agency May 27, 2003)
