An elusive wild cat lengthy feared extinct in Thailand has been rediscovered three a long time after the final recorded sighting, conservation authorities and an NGO stated Friday.
Flat-headed cats are among the many world’s most threatened wild felines, with the Worldwide Union for Conservation of Nature estimating that simply 2,500 adults exist within the wild. The uncommon animals are in regards to the dimension of a home cat and have distinctive, spherical, close-set eyes.
Flat-headed cats are discovered solely in Southeast Asia and usually reside in dense wetland ecosystems like peat swamps and freshwater mangroves. Such areas are underneath menace: Thailand’s peat swamp forests have been closely fragmented, largely resulting from land conversion and agricultural enlargement, stated veterinarian and researcher Kaset Sutasha of Kasetsart College. The final confirmed sighting of a flat-headed cat in Thailand was in 1995.
Final yr, wild cat conservation group Panthera and Thailand’s Division of Nationwide Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation started an ecological survey that used digicam traps within the nation’s Princess Sirindhorn Wildlife Sanctuary.
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Flat-headed cats had been detected 29 instances through the survey, Panthera and Thai officers stated. It was not instantly clear what number of people the detections signify, because the species lacks distinctive markings, so counting is hard. Pattanarangsan stated the survey’s findings recommend a comparatively excessive focus of the species.
The footage included a feminine flat-headed cat together with her cub — a uncommon and inspiring signal for a species that usually produces just one offspring at a time. The species has additionally struggled to breed throughout remoted areas, contributing to its endangerment.
Kaset, who was not concerned within the survey however has researched wild cats for years, stated the “rediscovery is thrilling” however is just a “place to begin” for future conservation efforts.
“What comes after that is extra vital — easy methods to allow them to reside alongside us sustainably, with out being threatened,” Kaset stated.
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Along with Thailand, flat-headed cats might be present in Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo, in accordance with the Felidae Conservation Fund. They’ve a weight loss program dominated by fish, frogs and shrimp, and are nocturnal, elusive animals.
A lot in regards to the species stays a thriller due to their rarity and the problem of accessing their habitats, Panthera conservation program supervisor Rattapan Pattanarangsan stated.
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