The mainland clouded leopard, a medium-sized felid in the family Pantherinae, is categorized as ‘Vulnerable’ by the IUCN and listed under CITES Appendix I, reflecting threats from poaching and illegal trade (Hearn et al., 2013; Gray et al., 2021). Due to their elusive nature, it becomes difficult to ascertain the preferred prey species of clouded leopards (Nowell & Jackson, 1996). During a camera trapping study to assess the population of clouded leopards in its distribution range in India, a clouded leopard was photo captured carrying a Bengal slow loris (Nycticebus bengalensis) held by its nape on a broad forest trail (20:58 hrs; December 07, 2024; 164 m asl) (Figure 1). Earlier, its congener, the Greater slow loris (Nycticebus coucang), was recorded as a prey species of the clouded leopard by Grassman Jr. et al. (2005) based on scat analysis in Thailand, which was erroneously cited by another study (Rasphone et al., 2022) as Bengal slow loris. The habitat comprised a tropical wet evergreen forest characterized by the dominance of tree species including Dipterocarpus retusus, Mesua ferrea, and Dysoxylum gotadhora, with an approximate canopy cover of 60%. The location is 1.1 km from the nearest tea garden (Tarajan Tea Garden) and 2.5 km from the closest human habitation. In this report, we provide the first photographic evidence of a Bengal slow loris being preyed upon by a mainland clouded leopard, confirming it as a prey species for this felid.

The Bengal slow loris is the only strepsirrhine primate in north-east India and is categorized as ‘Endangered’ by the IUCN (Nekaris et al., 2020). It exhibits distinct foraging behavior characterized by the repeated use of the same foraging routes and relatively slow locomotion. Among all the species of Nycticebus, the Bengal slow loris is the most specialized exudativore, dedicating approximately 86.5% of its total feeding time to consuming plant exudates in arboreal habitats (Swapna et al., 2010). Considering the Bengal slow loris’ weight ranges from 850 to 2100 g (Nekaris et al., 2010), and it is arboreal and nocturnal, it is likely that clouded leopards in this area may target this species as relatively easy to hunt prey.

The available literature highlights the diverse range of prey species preferred by clouded leopards, including small and medium sized ungulates, primates, porcupines, pangolins, birds, rodents, and even domestic animals (Davies, 1990; Hazarika, 1996; Nowell & Jackson, 1996; Grassman Jr. et al., 2005; Lam et al., 2014). There is a significant lack of information regarding the preferred prey of the clouded leopard. Therefore, this photographic record fills in the information gap on the prey preference of the clouded leopard in its Indian distribution range.

Figure 1. The clouded leopard predating on a Bengal slow Loris captured on a foresttrail (motorable road) in the Soraipung range of the Dehing Patkai National Park, Assam, India

Acknowledgement

We sincerely acknowledge the support of the Director, Wildlife Institute of India. We also extend our appreciation to Mr. Ranjith Ram, Divisional Forest Officer, Digboi Division, and Mr. Sandeep Kumar, Divisional Forest Officer, Dibrugarh Division, for their support and kind coordination throughout the field survey.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Dr. Govindhan Veeraswami Gopi is an academic editor, and Dr. Bilal Habib is the managing editor at the Journal of Wildlife Science. However, they did not participate in the peer review process of this article except as authors. The authors declare no other competing interests.

DATA AVAILABILITY
No additional data was used in this research.

AUTHORS’ CONTRIBUTION
Rameshwar Ghade: Writing-Original Draft Preparation (lead). Writing-Review & Editing (equal), Field work (equal). Azam Khan: Writing-Original Draft Preparation (supporting), Writing-Review & Editing (equal), Field work (equal). Tribhuwan Singh: Writing-Original Draft Preparation (supporting). Writing-Review & Editing (equal). Daniel Miranda: Writing-Original Draft Preparation (supporting), Writing-Review & Editing (equal). Bilal Habib: Funding Acquisition (lead), Writing-Original Draft Preparation(supporting), Writing-Review & Editing (lead), Gopi G. V.: Writing-Original Draft Preparation(supporting), Writing-Review & Editing (supporting)