Placeholder — replace: clouded leopard on a branch at nightWildlife of Danum · Night cat
Sunda clouded leopard
Neofelis diardi
Borneo's top predator and its most wanted sighting — a cat so elusive that guides who've worked here for decades remember every one.
The animal
Meet the sunda clouded leopard
Let's be honest, because this site tries to be: most visitors do not see a clouded leopard, and anyone who promises you one is selling something. What Danum offers is the real possibility — healthy prey, big intact forest, and night drives run by people who know which stretches have been active.
When it happens, it tends to happen fast: eyeshine on a low branch, the spotlight steadies, and there's the cloud-blotched coat and that improbably long tail. People who've had thirty seconds of it plan their return flights on the drive back.
Where to see it in Danum
Night drives out of Borneo Rainforest Lodge and the Study Centre account for nearly all encounters — road edges and low branches over open ground. Camera-trap studies confirm they're around far more often than they're seen.
When & how
No season improves the odds much; frequency of night drives does. Photographers on week-long intensives simply buy more tickets in the lottery.
See it on these
- Night safari — where nearly every sighting happens
- Danum Intensive — 1 week — more nights, more chances
- Wildlife watching — the wider cast
Placeholder — replace: the cat itself — night sighting
Placeholder — replace: night-drive conditions
Placeholder — replace: hunting habitatPlan your trip
Enquire directly
Tell us the species on your list and your dates — sightings are wild and never guaranteed, but we know where the odds live.