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

This article explores the limits of the concept of extinction through an ethnographic study of the Paiwan people's relationship with the Formosan clouded leopard [ Neofelis nebulosa ] in Taiwan. While science often presents extinction as a fixed category, my fieldwork reveals a far more complex and liminal reality in which absence and presence intertwine. For the Paiwan, the disappearance of the clouded leopard ( likulau in Paiwan language) is not understood as a final extinction but rather as a transformation of presence into a spiritual or ghostly form. By tracing local narratives and memories, I show how the likulau continues to inhabit the cultural and emotional landscape, challenging Western biopolitical notions of species loss. Because extinction makes little sense to the Paiwan, discussions with scientists about reintroduction generate ontological friction between different ways to interact with the animal. Therefore, this article suggests the importance of considering alternative ontologies in order to better engage with human–animal bonds in times of extinction. Accordingly, this article suggests that the continued belief in the clouded leopard's presence embodies resilience and cultural continuity amid ecological and social upheavals. In this way, extinction is not a simple endpoint but an ongoing, relational process shaped by affective, spiritual, and territorial ties. The Paiwan experience invites a rethinking of extinction beyond biological criteria, urging us to attend to the multiple forms of persistence and memory that animate landscapes after species loss.