clouded leopard – Christian Sperka Photography | Blog & Site

2021-03-31

Let’s talk about big cats – the honorary members!

Beside the five official members of the genus Panthera (Tiger, Lion, Jaguar, Leopard and Snow Leopard) there are five more cat species which do not quite fit into the ‘small cat definition’ as they are rather large and/or have very special features. I will introduce these over the next few days.

Today it is my two favorite cat species: The Clouded Leopards (Neofelis.nebulosa and Neofelis.diardi)

They have large, paws with adapted footpads for gripping branches. Specialized anklebones allow varied position for climbing, including climbing headfirst down trees. Another distinctive feature is their very long canine teeth. For a long time they were considered the ‘link’ between small and big cats. Today they are classified as big cats, but are still within their own genus. Neofelis with its two species the Mainland Clouded Leopard (Himalayas/SouthEast Asia/China) and the Sunda Clouded Leopard (Borneo/Sumatra) are considered arboreal cat species (living in trees).

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2020-06-17

THE MORNING POST – CLOUDS

Recently I have been asked which is my favorite animal. Not an easy question to answer. I enjoy all creatures and my favorite photo models are cats of all sorts. But if I have to choose one than it is Clouded Leopards.

I worked with these amazing mammals during my time in the Nashville Zoo and it would be great to photograph them in the wild.

I hope you enjoy my favorite cats!

Christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography @nashvillezoo #nashvillezoo #cloudedleopard

2019-03-17

CLOUDED LEOPARD WEEK

I am featuring a species per week on my social media channels. Here is a summary of the last week’s posts (and some blog bonus images). I hope you enjoy some of my favorite Clouded Leopard pictures :-).

The Clouded Leopard (Neofelis) is considered to form an evolutionary link between the big cats (Pantherinae) and the small cats (Felinae). It represents the smallest of the big cats, but despite its name, it is not closely related to the Leopard. Compared to body size it has the longest canine teeth of any cat and unlike all other big cats it can purr.

Clouded Leopards are my favorite animal 🙂

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http://www.sperka.com

2016-04-15

Nashville Memories

Clouded Leopard portrait

An artist named Martyn Norris has recently asked for permission to use one of my Clouded Leopard images as a basis for one of his drawings. I really like the result – thanks Martyn!

And looking at this image took me back to when I was working as photographer and photography teacher at Nashville Zoo at Grassmere. I really enjoyed my time in Nashville and I miss my friends in the Music City USA. I hope to visit again, soon.

If you are travelling to Nashville make sure you visit this excellent zoo – http://www.nashvillezoo.org …

… and also have a look at Martyn’s other work (if your are on Facebook 🙂 – http://www.facebook.com/martynfoxart.

2015-11-282015-12-13

The first decade series – Clouded Leopard Cub

Another unpublished image from my archives 🙂 taken between 2001 and 2010.

A Clouded Leopard cub – Nashville Zoo at Grassmere

2014-09-262014-09-26

Unpublished

While browsing through some of my older images today I found this Leopard picture I took many years ago. It was never published. So here it is now.

Enjoy your weekend 🙂

2014-09-152014-09-15

A Leopard and his Tracks

The main job of Thanda’s expert trackers is to find and interpret the signs which animals leave when they move through the bush. Foot imprints, droppings/dung , broken branches, depressed grass and cut leaves lying around the ground are only a few of these marks. Thanda guests are always fascinated to see how our Zulu trackers are able to pick up these signs.

This collage shows one of Thanda’s beautiful Leopard males and very visible Leopard footprints. Unfortunately most of the time the tracks are not that clear and obvious 🙂

2014-07-25

Nashville Zoo Memories

I promised a few more images from my recent trip to the USA. I am still working on sorting out all the images, but I had to put these four together to a collage. Thanks to Chris M. for taking me around the zoo during my visit to see all my old friends.

As much as I love my cats at home (Lion, Leopard and Cheetah) I miss the Eurasian Lynx, the Bengal Tigers, the Clouded Leopards and the Cougars/Mountain Lions at the Nashville Zoo. Jackson, the old gentlemen in this picture (mountain lion) is one of my favourite (and one of Heather’s favourite, too :-).

2014-06-06

Great response!

About hundred people showed up for yesterday evening’s presentation at the Nashville Zoo. I did not expect such a turnout for my Keppers of the Wild talk. I also held the same presentation earlier in the day for the zoo staff, which was also very well attended.

Tomorrow I will be exhibiting at the Nashville First Saturday Art Crawl (Details at http://wp.me/p1rzfb-16C) – ZULULAND – WILDLIFE AND PEOPLE IN THE AFRICAN SOUTH …

… and next Wednesday I will give another talk TWO YEARS IN THE WILD at the Cookeville Camera Club (Details at http://wp.me/p1rzfb-16r).

Today’s image is of a Clouded Leopard at the Nashville Zoo. Drupada, a young male, was giving me “the look”!

2013-07-06

At the Nashville Zoo …

Yesterday I gave a presentation about my first year in Africa to the Nashville Zoo staff and docents. It went well. The audience enjoyed the sights from Thanda and my comments :-).

Earlier in the day I had a look at the Clouded Leopard cubs at the zoo. This youngster played with me for a while, somewhat roughly 🙂

My visit to Nashville is almost over and I enjoyed meeting with friends and visiting the zoo. Next week I will travel back to South Africa.

… and thanks to Heather I got a picture with me and the cub!