Our goal is to restore wild populations and ensure that wild animals stay in the wild. We are documenting the recovery of wildlife species in the Cardamom Mountain Range (Cambodia’s largest tropical rainforest) that we have been protecting for over a decade. Wildlife populations were decimated and the forest was ravaged prior to our arrival. Thanks to systematic ranger law enforcement, animals such as this clouded leopard can be seen again.
Many of the remaining forest areas are too small to ensure the long-term persistence of clouded leopard populations. They are threatened by habitat loss following large–scale deforestation and commercial poaching for the wildlife trade. Skins, claws, and teeth are offered for decoration and clothing, bones and meat as substitute for tiger in traditional Asian medicines and tonics, and live animals for the pet trade. Few poaching incidents have been documented, but all range states are believed to have some degree of commercial poaching. In recent years, substantial domestic markets existed in Indonesia, Myanmar, and Vietnam.