Between absence and presence: Rethinking extinction with the Paiwan and the clouded leopard in Taiwan

Overview

This ethnographic study examines the Paiwan people's relationship with the Formosan clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) in Taiwan to interrogate the conceptual boundaries of extinction. The research addresses a fundamental disjuncture between scientific models of species loss and indigenous ontologies that characterize the clouded leopard's disappearance as a transformation rather than terminal extinction. The likulau, as named in Paiwan language, persists within indigenous cosmologies as a spiritualized or ghostly presence, occupying both material and metaphysical registers simultaneously.

Methods and approach

The study employs ethnographic fieldwork centered on Paiwan narratives and collective memory regarding the clouded leopard. Data collection involved sustained engagement with local communities to document how the animal's absence is narrated and understood within cultural frameworks. Attention is paid to the ontological tensions that emerge in dialogic encounters between indigenous knowledge holders and scientific practitioners engaged in discussions concerning species reintroduction efforts.

Key Findings

Fieldwork demonstrates that for Paiwan communities, the clouded leopard's physical disappearance does not constitute extinction as a final, irreversible state. Instead, likulau maintains presence through spiritual, affective, and territorial dimensions that structure landscape and social relations. Local narratives indicate that the animal continues to inhabit the cultural and emotional landscape, generating ongoing forms of engagement and memory that persist alongside ecological absence. The likulau's continued acknowledgment within Paiwan ontologies reflects adaptive responses to environmental transformation while maintaining cultural integrity.

Implications

The research reveals fundamental incommensurability between Western biopolitical frameworks of extinction and indigenous ontologies that recognize multiple temporalities and modes of existence. Scientific reintroduction discussions generate ontological friction, indicating the necessity for epistemological pluralism in conservation discourse. Recognition of alternative frameworks for understanding species loss may facilitate more substantive engagement between scientific and indigenous knowledge systems in biodiversity management contexts. The Paiwan experience suggests that extinction encompasses relational, affective, and spiritual dimensions that exceed biological classification systems. Continued belief in the clouded leopard's presence demonstrates resilience mechanisms through which communities sustain cultural continuity amid ecological disruption. The study emphasizes that persistence and memory animate landscapes in ways that transcend binary presence-absence categorizations, requiring analytical frameworks capable of accommodating liminality and transformation. Rethinking extinction beyond terminal endpoints invites attention to how human-animal bonds generate meanings and practices that sustain ecological and cultural worlds across states of apparent loss.