The clawed creature \u2014 named for its elongated forehead and flat skulls \u2014 was even labeled\u00a0\u201cpossibly extinct\u201d<\/a>\u00a0within Thailand, where the last sighting occurred in 1995.<\/p>\n That was until, between 2024 and 2025, camera traps picked up the critters staggering 29 times during a conservation survey in southern Thailand\u2019s Princess Sirindhorn Wildlife Sanctuary, Science Alert reported.<\/a> <\/p>\n In addition, footage showed included a female flat-headed cat with her cub, which was a positive sign for an animal that typically only produces one baby at a time.<\/p>\n The campaign was a joint effort by Thailand\u2019s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation and the conservation nonprofit Panthera, both of which are helping carry out the largest-ever survey of the species, Mongabay reported.<\/a><\/p>\n Conservationists were awestruck over the discovery. \u201cRediscovering flat-headed cats in southern Thailand is an extraordinary moment for conservation,\u201d\u00a0Wai Ming Wong, Panthera\u2019s small cat conservation science director, told the outlet.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Surasak Yimprasert, head of conservation, research and animal health at Songkhla Zoo in Thailand, exclaimed, \u201cI thought that we probably wouldn\u2019t find flat-headed wild cats in Thailand anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n The tiniest wild cat in Southeast Asia, flat-headed cats weigh only around 4.5 pounds\u2014half the size of a domestic cat. Their small size combined with their nocturnal nature and tiny population make them difficult to find. <\/p>\n They also reside in impenetrable wetland environments like peat swamps and freshwater mangroves \u2014 ecosystems that are hard to navigate for scientists.<\/p>\n The species\u2019 webbed toes and streamlined bodies<\/a> help them navigate this inhospitable terrain, allowing them to pursue shrimp, fish, frogs and other aquatic prey, according to the Felidae Conservation Fund.<\/a><\/p>\n Despite their lack of accessibility, these environments are under threat from fishing, agriculture and other human activities.<\/p>\n Conservationists hope these latest discoveries will help kickstart conservation efforts. <\/p>\n \u201cRobust, up-to-date data like [the new findings] is invaluable for accurately evaluating [the species\u2019] status and guiding conservation priorities,\u201d\u00a0Wong told\u00a0Mongabay. \u201cIt underscores the urgency of safeguarding Thailand\u2019s remaining lowland habitats so that species like the flat-headed cat have a future.\u201d<\/p>\n The team plans to submit their discovery to the IUCN\u2019s\u00a0Red List Committee, which is responsible for biodiversity surveys and keeping the org\u2019s threatened species list up to date, with the goal of updating the the critter\u2019s status in Thailand.<\/p>\n However,\u00a0more research will likely be necessary to make this change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Critter spotters are feline good about this one. Biologists were flabbergasted when an elusive animal thought to be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":385035,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[1067,2027,79,3284,201],"class_list":{"0":"post-385034","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-cats","9":"tag-endangered-species","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-study-says","12":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Flat-headed](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/panthera-thailand-shows-recently-rediscovered-117873810.jpg\")
Flat-headed cat snapped via camera trap and released on December 26, 2025, by Thailand\u2019s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) and Panthera Thailand. Panthera Thailand\/NATIONAL PARK, WILDLIFE AND PLANT CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT (DNP)\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/panthera-thailand-shows-recently-rediscovered-117873809.jpg\")
Surasak Yimprasert, head of conservation, research and animal health at Songkhla Zoo in Thailand, exclaimed, \u201cI thought that we probably wouldn\u2019t find flat-headed wild cats in Thailand anymore.\u201d Panthera Thailand\/NATIONAL PARK, WILDLIFE AND PLANT CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT (DNP)\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n