
'Extinct' Formosan clouded leopard spotted in Taiwan - ilamont
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3644433
======
organicdude
This makes me incredibly happy for some reason.

I lived in Taiwan for a year after I graduated college and I found their
jungles to be difficult to navigate because of the mountainous terrain. It
doesn't surprise me that they have been hiding out successfully for >10 years!

What a beautiful animal with cool patterns.

~~~
lsiebert
This makes me happy too. Anytime anyone or anything we thought was dead is
found alive, that's a cause for celebration.

~~~
topmonk
Small pox! Yeaahhh!!

~~~
Radim
Beware! You entered the "cutesy animals, let's save the planet, everyone's
cool man" territory with nuance, humour and wider perspective. People don't
forgive that easily.

If you want to be fun at parties, you can also try this: _" What do you mean,
'YOLO, do what your heart tells you, no matter what they say'? Does that also
apply to rapists and murderers?"_

------
ian0
> the Alangyi Village set up a team of rangers to patrol traditional areas.

> confirmed that rangers from the village had spotted the Formosan clouded
> leopard in person, but he was not at the liberty of disclosing the exact
> time and location of the sightings.

> Alangyi Village elders also asked the Forestry Bureau to stop logging and
> other disruptive activities.

This was managed extremely well by the village.

~~~
mc32
Right, better than the previous time when the locals burned captured specimens
for fear of retribution for having captured them 20 or so years ago.

For sure, this time protocol was followed as should be expected.

------
nyjah
Forest Galante travels the world and searches for animals that people think
are extinct, but not in the cryptozoology sense. He was recently on the jre
podcast, its a great listen. He Also hosts the show Extinct Or Alive on Animal
Planet. The 7th episode was about this exact animal.

jre: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT0ZIq-
yWEM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT0ZIq-yWEM)

[https://www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows/extinct-or-
alive/](https://www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows/extinct-or-alive/)

------
blisterpeanuts
This is great news. The fact that it's been about thirty years since the last
official sighting (according to Wikipedia), suggests that there is still a
breeding population and not just one or two geriatric survivors.

Now one can only hope that the local population won't think of them as a
valuable trophy prize or maybe of medicinal value, to be shot on sight.

~~~
philliphaydon
I don’t think Taiwan is like China in that regard. I’m more inclined to think
taiwan would do everything it can to protect them.

------
bitxbitxbitcoin
They are going to do a scientific study to try and confirm their return from
extinction. The last such study lasted thirteen years and yielded zero
sightings.

------
uvesten
Summary: Eyewitness accounts only, no photos, no verification in any way.

Unfortunately, most likely the ”eyewitnesses” are mistaken, as in nearly all
cases like these.

------
seshagiric
I always have one question about such discoveries. Is it that the some mating
pairs of the species somehow escaped being seen and were thought to be extinct
or is it some magic of nature that the species got reborn somehow!! May be
there is an XKCD line about this already :)

~~~
ceejayoz
No magic involved.

Hide-and-seek is easy if there's only a couple of animals and an entire
ecosystem to hide in.

