Finding the Silver Lining
Finding the Silver Lining, Smithsonian Zoogoer, May / June 2009
Clouded leopards are the smallest of the big cats. They are also one of the rarest. In this cover story for Smithsonian Zoogoer, I explore the challenges facing clouded leopards today and their hope for the future.
Once a breeding and training facility for cavalry horses, the National Zoo’s Conservation and Research Center is now home to some of the world’s most endangered species. It is here, among old barns and modern laboratories, where JoGayle Howard is making a stand for the clouded leopard. Howard, a veterinarian and reproductive scientist at the National Zoo, is battling time and threats to save the species from a decline that could end with extinction. But clouded leopards are reluctant partners in their own salvation. Difficult, secretive, and unlike any other cat, they defy most scientists’ attempts to understand them and, possibly, save them.
Cristina Santiestevan is an environmental writer and communications consultant. She writes about issues as varied as clouded leopards in Thailand, climate change in American forests and mushroom foraging in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Her work appears in magazines, museum exhibits and nonprofit publications.