Abstract
BACKGROUND: Despite global investment in studying, protecting, and managing carnivores, species like the clouded leopard Neofelis nebulosa (Griffith, 1821), renowned for its elusive nature, remain significantly understudied. There is also insufficient knowledge of clouded leopard research trends in spatial and temporal domains. Additionally, thematic areas of research on this species are not clearly known. This gap in information may hinder the development of effective strategies to address key conservation challenges such as habitat loss, poaching, and illegal trade. METHODS: To bridge these gaps, we systematically reviewed 123 peer-reviewed journal articles published up to December 2022, offering critical insights into the current state of knowledge and identifying future research priorities to inform conservation planning. RESULTS: The spatial analysis of clouded leopard research reveals that Thailand (n = 28) dominates the range countries, while the USA (n = 26) dominates non-range countries in terms of research efforts. Temporally, research output has shown a significant increase since 2006, peaking in 2016 (n = 13), with a positive trend in publications (Kendall's tau = 0.52, P < 0.001). Most studies focused on anatomy and physiology in captive populations (n = 31) and habitat use and distribution in free-ranging populations (n = 23). The studies on the impact of climate change on the clouded leopard and its habitat, alongside feeding ecology, remain scant, necessitating the future research in these areas. Our analysis also revealed that the maximum number of publications employed diagnosis and treatment (26%), followed by camera trapping (24.4%). We recommend integrating local ecological knowledge and monitoring technologies to map the clouded leopard's corridors, connectivity, and bottleneck sites at the landscape level. A higher number of publications addressed habitat loss and illegal trade as the primary threats to clouded leopard conservation. Effective law enforcement, proper land use, land cover planning, and community engagement are crucial for conserving this species. Moreover, clouded leopard range countries are recommended to develop sustainable financial mechanisms and implement the conservation action plan across the country, which can improve conservation outcomes.