THE CLOUDED TIGER. 
Felis macrocelis. 
Plate "VII. 
This very beautiful species was first discovered in Sumatra, by Sir Stamford Raffles, and a short notice of it, 
under its Malayan name of Riinau Dyan, was given in the catalogue of his zoological collection, published in 
the Linnean Society’s Transactions in 1822, (vol. xiii. p. 250). Shortly afterwards, M. Temminck, who had 
examined several imperfect skins of this animal in the collections of Leiden and Paris, and in that of the 
East India Company in London, gave a more extended notice of the species in the first volume of his 
“ Monographies de Mammalogie,” under the appropriate name of Felis macrocelis. A living specimen of the new 
species was brought to England by Sir Stamford Raffles, in the autumn of 1824, and a more perfect description 
and figure was taken from this individual, and contributed to the “ Zoological Journal,” by Dr. Horsfield. Sir 
Stamford Raffles’ specimen was placed, on its death, in the Zoological Society’s Collection, whence it was 
subsequently transferred to the National Collection in the British Museum. 
The Sumatran specimen is identical in all respects with the subjects of Mr. Wolf’s drawing, one of which 
is still living in the Menagerie. They were obtained in Assam, by an officer in the service of the Hon. East 
India Company, who shot the mother, and succeeded in inducing his servants to rear the whelps, which were 
then but a few days old. They have always preserved habits of the utmost gentleness, and exhibit extraordinary 
attachment to their attendant. The character of the head, the great length and thickness of the tail, combined 
with a very peculiar coloration, which is excellently rendered in the drawing, distinguish these animals at the 
first glance from the other Leopards. Their nearest ally is a smaller species from Nepal, formerly also in the 
Society’s collection, which Mr. Hodgson has described under the name of Felis macrocelides, and which is 
carefully figured in the “ Proceedings of the Zoological Society ” for 1853. 
In its natural state, according to Sir Stamford Raffles, the Clouded Tiger lives principally on trees, 
pursuing and feeding on birds, and is said by the natives to be in the habit of sleeping stretched across the 
fork of a large bough, a practice which our captive specimens often imitate among the branches with which 
their cage in the Society’s Gardens is supplied. 
The Clouded Tiger is found in Borneo as well as in Sumatra, according to M. Temminck, but does not 
occur in Java. On the continent its range extends into Siam, and up the Malayan peninsular as far north as 
Assam. The Felis macrocelides of Nepal and Tibet, above mentioned, described as being found on both sides of 
the snow in lofty sites, is of smaller size, and rather different in its markings. Its claim to be considered a 
really distinct species, appears rather doubtful, but, on the other hand, the existence of the same animal in 
Sumatra and amidst the snows of Tibet, is certainly not in accordance with the general laws of geographical 
distribution. 
