A camera trap in southern Thailand has captured the first confirmed sighting in years of the Asian golden cat (Catopuma temminckii), a rare and little-understood feline whose elusive nature has long kept scientists guessing. The brief footage, released by the Thai Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, shows the cat strolling quietly through the Khao Luang National Park, nestled deep in the country’s tropical highlands.
The moment—just a few seconds of grainy nighttime footage—has reignited hopes for the species’ future in a region where its presence had been in serious doubt. The golden cat, although technically widespread across parts of Southeast Asia, has become increasingly difficult to track in the wild, especially in southern Thailand, where logging, poaching, and habitat loss have sharply reduced viable populations.
A Species Hiding in Plain Sight
Despite its name, the golden cat isn’t always golden. While the most iconic variant sports a deep, amber-toned coat, individuals can also appear in shades of gray, black (melanistic), cinnamon, and even ocelot-like spotted patterns. It’s these subtle variations—and the species’ solitary, nocturnal habits—that make it notoriously difficult to monitor.
Native to a broad swathe of forested terrain stretching from the Himalayas to the Malaysian Peninsula, the golden cat is classified as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Global population estimates suggest fewer than 7,000 individuals remain in the wild, though that figure is far from exact due to limited sightings and data. The last time a confirmed sighting occurred in Khao Luang was several years ago—and even then, the evidence was anecdotal.
“Because of their elusive behavior and preference for dense forest, our knowledge of this species is still remarkably thin,” says Dr. Praween Chumsai, a Thai conservation biologist involved in regional camera-trap monitoring programs. “This new footage confirms they’re still holding on, which is more than we knew last year.”
How Camera Traps Are Changing Wildlife Science
The rediscovery came thanks to a motion-triggered camera trap, part of a broader network installed across protected areas to document wildlife with minimal disruption. These tools, now widely used in conservation biology, have transformed how researchers track rare and endangered animals without needing constant human presence in sensitive habitats.
In this case, the footage was captured at night, with the cat walking calmly along a forest path—seemingly unaware of the lens capturing its presence. According to the Thai Department of National Parks, the video was reviewed and authenticated before being released to the public, marking the first confirmed evidence of the species in the region for years.
“Without these camera traps, we’d likely still be assuming this population was gone,” notes Dr. Anurak Pattanavibool, a wildlife ecologist at Kasetsart University. “They’ve become our eyes in the forest.”
The footage may be brief, but its implications are wide-reaching. According to conservation experts, it offers hard proof that viable habitat still exists in Khao Luang and could prompt new targeted conservation measures, especially in areas not previously prioritized for golden cat recovery.
Persistent Threats to a Vulnerable Species
While the golden cat is adaptable—its range includes montane forests, evergreen lowlands, and tropical rainforests—this flexibility hasn’t shielded it from rising threats. The expansion of palm oil plantations, illegal logging, and poaching, often for its pelt or due to traditional medicinal beliefs, have chipped away at its numbers across the region.
In parts of Myanmar and Laos, for example, recent reports from TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, have documented increasing instances of golden cat skins being sold in black markets—sometimes mislabeled as more “prestigious” species like leopard or clouded leopard.
Although Thailand has made strides in tightening its wildlife protection laws, enforcement remains patchy in remote areas. “The golden cat doesn’t have the PR profile of a tiger or an elephant,” says Dr. Chumsai. “It slips under the radar—until suddenly, it doesn’t.”
The IUCN Red List entry for the species emphasizes the importance of “protected, contiguous forest cover” and discourages fragmentation caused by infrastructure development. According to satellite data from Global Forest Watch, the broader region around Khao Luang has seen more than 15% canopy loss in the past two decades.