Habitat loss and fragmentation is probably the greatest threat to the clouded leopard. The clouded leopard is widely hunted for its teeth, decorative pelt, and for bones for the traditional Asian medicinal trade. Clouded leopard pelts were the most commonly available felid pelts in a 1991 survey of black market wildlife traders in south-eastern China where Taiwanese were the main buyers. In Taiwan, clouded leopards are now either very rare or extinct. Pelts have also been reported on sale in urban markets from Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Nepal and Thailand. A small number of pelts are sold to aborigines to make traditional ceremonial jackets. Clouded leopards have been featured on the menu of restaurants in Thailand and China which cater to wealthy Asian tourists.
Found in the forest regions of eastern Nepal, northeast India, southeast Asia, southern China, Taiwan and Borneo, the clouded leopard is specialized for arboreal living, although it is thought to be a mostly terrestrial cat in most of its habitat. In Taiwan, there have been only a handful of sighting reports from hunters since the 1960s; none of them have been substantiated.
Neofelis nebulosa is considered as "Vulnerable" by the IUCN. CITES lists the species as "Appendix 1".