Friday, March 16, 2007

Which Side Is A Leopard Clouded?

why, on the outside, of course.

There's something terribly exciting in reading reports of new animal species still being discovered in "our" time. And when the species in question is the beautiful "clouded leopard", even more so. (The "Neofelis Nebulosa" - such an AWESOME name.)

But one little fact about these kitties is a bit, shall we say, worrisome:
" In captivity, clouded leopards present a reproductive challenge. Unfortunately, there is a high incidence of aggression between males and females, sometimes resulting in the death of the female."
I mean, sure, every male occasionally has his "not tonight dear, I have to rip this gazelle from limb to limb" moment or maybe he just wants to watch Letterman or read a book, but killing the female to avoid sex is simply too much.

So there you have it- breaking news, zoology, humor, marital psychology, all in one convenient place.
*****

BTW, this news item in The Hindu says one of the Indian zoos has a Clouded Leopard. Here's a picture of the animal in Shillong Zoo.

Indeed, apna desh is home to this species too. Check out this excellent scientific document, authored by a scientist from Calcutta, on the discovery of the species. (Link to a PDF Document.)

6 comments:

Alok said...

Men avoiding sex? what kind of marital psychology is that?

km said...

Alok: that was meant only for married men's consumption. You single guys won't EVER understand :D

(BTW, thanks for that cool Hindi transliteration feature!!!)

Tabula Rasa said...

well, if the female of certain species are allowed to not only kill but also eat the male after the Act, i don't see why we shouldn't get some of our back too. (although *before* the Act is a bit of a redneck thing to do. maybe that's how the darn thing got its name.)

km said...

LOL, TR. That cat's behavior is worthy of the 2007 Darwin Awards.

GhostOfTomJoad said...

I'm with TR on this...Fuzzy logic might've been a more appropriate name.

Incidentally, there was a similar discovery just a few days ago (in Thailand, or was it Indonesia?), where they found this Indian bird, which was believed to have been extinct for over a hundred years.

Anonymous said...

I bet now you guys will appreciate our, 'not tonight dear, I have a headache,' SO much more. Hah!