A reclusive wild feline, long believed eradicated from Thailand, has been sighted again after a hiatus of thirty years since its last documented appearance, as announced on Friday by wildlife preservation authorities and a non-governmental organization.
The flat-headed cat is counted among the planet’s most scarce and critically imperiled wild cat species. Its geographic distribution is confined to Southeast Asia, and it faces endangerment due to the continuous diminution of its natural environment.
This domestic cat-sized creature, characterized by its peculiar circular and closely spaced eyes, was last officially observed in documented records within Thailand in the year 1995.
However, an ecological assessment that commenced last year, employing motion-activated camera devices within the Princess Sirindhorn Wildlife Sanctuary in southern Thailand, registered a total of 29 distinct instances of its presence, according to data released by the nation’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation and the wild feline conservation organization Panthera.
“The reappearance is both exhilarating and, concurrently, a source of concern,” stated Kaset Sutasha, a veterinarian and researcher affiliated with Kasetsart University, in comments to AFP. He highlighted that the fragmentation of its habitat has rendered the species increasingly “isolated.”
An immediate determination of the exact number of individuals detected could not be made, given the species’ lack of unique identifying marks, which complicates population counts.
Nevertheless, the findings indicate a comparatively substantial aggregation of this species, as conveyed to AFP by Rattapan Pattanarangsan, a conservation program manager at Panthera.
The captured imagery included visuals of a female flat-headed cat accompanied by her offspring – a rare and heartening development for a species that typically gives birth to only a single kitten per litter.
Being a creature of the night and inherently shy, the flat-headed cat typically inhabits densely vegetated wetland environments, such as peat swamps and freshwater mangrove forests, which present considerable logistical challenges for researchers to access, according to Rattapan.
On a global scale, the International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates that approximately 2,500 adult flat-headed cats persist in the wild, categorizing the species as endangered.
Within Thailand, it has been categorized for a considerable period as “possibly extinct.”
Thailand’s peat swamp forests have undergone significant fragmentation, primarily attributable to land-use changes and the expansion of agricultural activities, explained Kaset, who, though not directly involved in the ecological survey, has dedicated years to researching wild cat populations.
The animals also confront escalating risks from diseases transmitted by domestic animals, and they encounter difficulties in propagating across disconnected territories.
While this rediscovery offers a glimmer of optimism, it represents merely an “initial phase” for subsequent conservation endeavors, he posited.
“The subsequent course of action is of greater consequence – how to facilitate their coexistence with humanity in a sustainable manner, free from threats.”
