The jungles of India can be a cruel place for young cubs that lose their mothers to poachers. In the jungles there are also other predators, elephants, and the harsh elements. Outside the jungle, there are people who work to help those lost cubs.

“Return of the Clouded Leopards” is a documentary that follows this situation. The documentary, made in 2012, follows the story of  photographer Sandesh Kadur, veterinarian Dr. Bhaskar Choudhury, and a team from Wild Life Trust of India as they train two orphaned clouded leopard cubs so they can be  released back into the jungle instead of being put in a zoo.

The documentary follows the entire story of the cubs from when they are found to when they are released. Once the cubs are released, the documentary turns to hunting the leopards back down in the wild after a year. The hunt for the leopards again takes up most of the 45-minute run time. The search takes the team to many different villages across India, to black market poacher stalls, and deep into the jungle. 

The storytelling of the documentary is straightforward and covers every part of the clouded leopards’ lives. The documentary goes through everything while keeping the important parts longer and the less important parts shorter. For a documentary that is only 45 minutes, it is impressive that they could keep an almost perfect length for every segment of the story. Having a good balance of the story leads to a great viewing experience that keeps viewers engaged for the entire documentary.

A very important part of a documentary is its information. “Return of The Clouded Leopards” teaches many different things. One thing is that the clouded leopard is an endangered species. It is suspected there are fewer than 10,000 in the wild. The documentary also explains why clouded leopards are being hunted by poachers.

Most of the information the documentary uses is from people directly involved with the rescue and re-teaching of the clouded leopards or locals who have seen the animals before. While the crew is looking for the clouded leopards after they are released, they use locals to help track them down and find out what has happened to the leopards.

The locals give a different perspective about what is going on. They talk about the traditional uses of clouded leopards in medicine. Hearing what the locals have to say is a great choice by the film makers, so people around the world can see why these animals are being poached.

Since the documentary is rated TV-PG, the producers made sure that everyone from young children to adults could understand the documentary. The documentary accomplishes this by saying everything in simpler words and explaining what more difficult words mean.

For those looking for something interesting or are curious about how people are trying to help endangered animals in the wild, “Return of the Clouded Leopards” is a great documentary.