Elusive, endangered wildcat spotted in Thailand for first time in 30 years

An elusive wild cat long feared extinct in Thailand has been rediscovered three decades after the last recorded sighting, conservation authorities and an NGO said Friday.

Flat-headed cats are among the most endangered wild felines in the world, with the International Union for Conservation of Nature estimating that there are only 2,500 adults in the wild. These rare animals are about the size of a domestic cat and have distinctive round, close-set eyes.

Flat-headed cats are only found in Southeast Asia and typically live in dense wetland ecosystems like freshwater peatlands and mangroves. Such areas are under threat: Thailand’s peatland forests have been heavily fragmented, largely due to land conversion and agricultural expansion, said veterinarian and researcher Kaset Sutasha of Kasetsart University. The last confirmed sighting of a flat-headed cat in Thailand was in 1995.

Last year, wildcat conservation organization Panthera and Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation launched an ecological study using camera traps in the country’s Princess Sirindhorn Wildlife Reserve.

Flat-headed cats were detected 29 times during the survey, Panthera and Thailand officials said. It was not immediately clear how many individuals the detections accounted for, because the species does not have distinctive markings, making counting difficult. Pattanarangsan said the survey results suggest a relatively high concentration of the species.

The images showed a flathead cat with her calf – a rare and encouraging sign for a species that usually only produces one offspring at a time. The species also struggled to breed in isolated areas, contributing to its disappearance.

Kaset, who was not involved in the survey but has been studying wild cats for years, said “the rediscovery is exciting” but is only a “starting point” for future conservation efforts.

“What comes next is more important: how to allow them to live sustainably alongside us, without being threatened,” Kaset said.

Besides Thailand, flat-headed cats are found in Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo, according to the Cat Conservation Fund. They have a diet dominated by fish, frogs and shrimp and are nocturnal and elusive animals.

Much of the species remains a mystery due to its rarity and difficulty in accessing its habitats, said Rattapan Pattanarangsan, head of the Panthera conservation program.