NewsLine staff
The St. Augustine Wild Reserve has added a rare clouded leopard to its collection of rescued and exotic animals, the reserve recently announced.
Sumatra, a 4-year-old male clouded leopard, joins the reserve’s roster of big cats and other wildlife on Farm Creek Road. Guests can visit Sumatra on tours; he lives in a spacious habitat outfitted with ramps and platforms meant to mimic the tree canopy clouded leopards inhabit in the wild, according to the reserve.
Clouded leopards are medium-sized wild cats native to south and southeast Asia and have the longest canine teeth relative to body size of any feline, according to the reserve. Males can weigh up to 50 pounds, while females are smaller, at 25 to 35 pounds. Their cloud-shaped coat markings provide camouflage in forest shadows.
The cats are arboreal, spending much of their time in trees, and use their long tails for balance. Specialized ankle bones allow them to climb head-first down tree trunks, similar to a squirrel, and to hang upside down from branches.
Clouded leopards eat porcupines, monkeys, squirrels and deer in the wild. The species is listed as endangered due to habitat destruction and poaching for its pelt. Clouded leopards can live 15 years in the wild and longer in captivity, according to the reserve.
Tours
The St. Augustine Wild Reserve offers tours Monday and Wednesday at 2 p.m., and Friday and Saturday at 11 a.m. Reservations can be made online, and questions about tours can be directed to the reserve.
In addition to Sumatra, guests can see white tigers, orange tigers, white lions, jaguars, wolves, a leopard, an African serval, a cougar and a coati mundi on tours.
The reserve also offers a Hands-On tour by appointment for groups of five or more. Guests on that tour can pet wolves through a secure chain-link fence, feed the wolves cheese sticks, pet and feed the reserve’s giant tortoises, and hand-feed hyenas Juba and Sekani using tongs for safety.
The St. Augustine Wild Reserve is located at 5190 Farm Creek Road in St. Augustine.
