Species comparison
Tiger vs Sunda Clouded Leopard
A side-by-side look at Panthera tigris and Neofelis diardi across body measurements, habitat, diet, behaviour and conservation status.
At a glance
- The tiger averages about 8.8 times the body mass of the sunda clouded leopard.
- Both species use tropical rainforest and montane forest.
- Their ranges both include Asia.
- Red List categories differ: Tiger is listed as Endangered, Sunda Clouded Leopard as Vulnerable.
Identification
How each species is named and classified.
Tiger
Panthera tigris
Sunda Clouded Leopard
Neofelis diardi
Tiger
Panthera
Sunda Clouded Leopard
Neofelis
Tiger
Panthera lineage
Sunda Clouded Leopard
Panthera lineage
Tiger
Big cats
Sunda Clouded Leopard
Medium-sized cats
Tiger
Bengal tiger, Amur tiger, Siberian tiger
Sunda Clouded Leopard
Bornean clouded leopard, Sundaland clouded leopard
Body and movement
Published field measurements for adults. Ranges cover both sexes unless noted.
Tiger
4 ft 7 in – 9 ft 2 in (140–280 cm) Longer
Sunda Clouded Leopard
2 ft 4 in – 3 ft 5 in (70–105 cm)
Tiger
24 in – 3 ft 7 in (60–110 cm) Longer
Sunda Clouded Leopard
24 in – 2 ft 9 in (60–85 cm)
Tiger
2 ft 7 in – 3 ft 7 in (80–110 cm) Taller
Sunda Clouded Leopard
20 in – 22 in (50–55 cm)
Tiger
165–573 lb (75–260 kg) Heavier
Sumatran females from about 75 kg; large males from mainland Asia exceed 200 kg.
Sunda Clouded Leopard
26–57 lb (12–26 kg)
Limited sample sizes; most figures come from a small number of captured animals.
Tiger
40 mph (65 km/h)
Short bursts over open ground; tigers rely on cover rather than pursuit.
Sunda Clouded Leopard
Not reliably measured
Not measured in the field.
Life span
Typical adult longevity. Figures for managed care come from zoo and sanctuary records.
Tiger
10–15 years Longer
Sunda Clouded Leopard
10–12 years
Tiger
16–22 years Longer
Sunda Clouded Leopard
13–17 years
Habitat and range
Where each species lives and the conditions it tolerates.
Tiger
tropical rainforest, mangrove, temperate forest, grassland, montane forest
Any landscape offering dense cover, water and sufficient large prey, from the Sundarbans mangroves to Russian pine and oak forest where winter temperatures fall far below freezing.
Sunda Clouded Leopard
tropical rainforest, montane forest
Lowland and hill dipterocarp forest, peat swamp forest and montane forest; the species also uses selectively logged forest, though at lower densities than in primary habitat.
Tiger
Asia
Scattered populations in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia (Sumatra), Russia and China. The species now occupies a small fraction of its historical Asian range.
Sunda Clouded Leopard
Asia
Endemic to Borneo and Sumatra, with separate subspecies recognised on each island.
Diet and behaviour
Feeding ecology, social organisation and hunting technique.
Tiger
large ungulates, medium ungulates, small mammals
Sambar, chital, wild boar, gaur calves and, in the Russian Far East, red deer and roe deer. Tigers can consume very large meals and then cache and revisit a carcass for several days.
Sunda Clouded Leopard
small mammals, primates, birds, medium ungulates
Bearded pig, mouse deer, macaques, proboscis monkeys, porcupines, civets and birds.
Tiger
Solitary and territorial
Adults hold exclusive ranges against the same sex, marked with scrapes, scent and scratch trees. A male's territory typically overlaps those of several females.
Sunda Clouded Leopard
Solitary
Individuals maintain large home ranges relative to body size; detections are strongly associated with continuous forest cover.
Tiger
Nocturnal and crepuscular
Chiefly active at night and around dawn and dusk, though tigers in undisturbed forest and cold climates also move by day.
Sunda Clouded Leopard
Nocturnal and crepuscular
Camera-trap data show a strong night-time peak, with some crepuscular movement.
Tiger
Solitary stalk and short rush
Tigers approach to within a few dozen feet under cover, then attack in a single explosive rush, using body mass to unbalance prey before a throat or nape bite. Most attempts fail.
Sunda Clouded Leopard
Stalking ambush in forest
Hunts both from branches and along the ground, taking prey up to the size of a young bearded pig.
Tiger
Limited
Cubs climb readily; heavy adults rarely do so except under duress, such as when escaping flood water or elephants.
Sunda Clouded Leopard
Exceptional More developed
Highly arboreal, with the same rotating ankle anatomy as the mainland species.
Tiger
Exceptional More developed
Tigers swim across wide rivers and tidal creeks, cool off in pools during hot weather, and in the Sundarbans routinely move between islands.
Sunda Clouded Leopard
Capable
Recorded crossing rivers within its forest range.
Conservation
Red List category, population direction and the pressures documented for each species.
Tiger
EN — Endangered
Assessed 2022
Sunda Clouded Leopard
VU — Vulnerable
Assessed 2015
Tiger
Increasing
Sunda Clouded Leopard
Decreasing
Tiger
Poaching for skins and body parts, Prey depletion by snaring, Habitat loss and fragmentation, Human-tiger conflict, Infrastructure development
The most recent global assessment raised the estimated population, partly through recovery in India, Nepal and Bhutan and partly through better survey coverage. Gains are uneven: several South East Asian populations have collapsed within a generation.
Sunda Clouded Leopard
Conversion of forest to plantation, Logging, Fragmentation of lowland forest, Snaring, Trade in skins
Conversion of lowland forest to oil-palm plantation has removed a large share of the best habitat on both islands, leaving increasingly isolated forest blocks.
Notable traits
Details that do not fit neatly into a measurement table.
Tiger
- Stripe patterns are individually unique and are also present on the skin, not only on the fur.
- Tiger hearing is tuned to low frequencies, and chuffing — a soft, breathy greeting — is used at close range between familiar animals.
- A single adult may need the equivalent of a large deer every week, which is why prey density, not forest area alone, sets local carrying capacity.
Sunda Clouded Leopard
- It was described as a distinct species only in 2006, after genetic comparison with mainland clouded leopards.
- Its cloud markings are smaller, darker-edged and more densely spotted than those of the mainland species.
- On Borneo it occupies the ecological role that tigers and leopards fill elsewhere in Asia.
Sources used for this comparison
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Global assessment categories, population trends and documented threats.
- IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group Species accounts, distribution notes and Cat News reporting for every wild felid.
- Panthera Field research programmes and species profiles for big and small wild cats.
- World Wildlife Fund Range descriptions, threat summaries and conservation programme reporting.
- Wildlife Conservation Society Field programmes, camera-trap surveys and population monitoring.
- Small Wild Cat Conservation Foundation Dedicated research and field reporting on the lesser-known felids.