Why have they just realized that the clouded leopard exists?
It was always known that these clouded leopards lived in Borneo, but it was only recent genetic investigations that revealed that the Borneo clouded leopard was genetically quite different from other Southeast Asian populations of clouded leopard. The scientists who uncovered the genetic divergence in the populations are calling it a new species of clouded leopard, because obviously that’s sexier and gets more press, prestige, and possibly funding than simply announcing a new subspecies or genetically distinct population. So it’s not that no one knew the cats were there, it’s just that molecular evidence indicates that these cats may be a little more different than was orginally thought.
