Flat-headed cat not seen in Thailand for almost 30 years is rediscovered

Researchers have photographed a rare cat in Thailand that hasn't been seen in the country for almost 30 years — and it's adorable.

Flat-headed cats (Prionailurus planiceps), named after their flattened foreheads, live in fragmented pockets across Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia, but they were feared extinct in Thailand.

Researchers rediscovered the cats using remote camera traps in Thailand’s Princess Sirindhorn Wildlife Sanctuary in 2024 and 2025 — the first detections in Thailand since 1995. Cat conservation organization Panthera announced the rediscovery on Friday (Dec. 26), which is also Thailand's annual Wildlife Protection Day.

"For decades, the flat-headed cat has been classified as 'likely extinct,' but after years of sustained protection, strong scientific partnerships, and community stewardship, we can now celebrate its return to Thailand this National Wildlife Day," Suchart Chomklin, Thailand's minister of Natural Resources and Environment, said in a statement.

Flat-headed cats have webbed feet to traverse wetland habitats, such as waterlogged peat-swamp forest, where the species is thought to primarily hunt fish. However, researchers know very little about their lives. The enigmatic cat is the smallest in Southeast Asia, weighing around 4.4 pounds (2 kilograms) — less than a domestic cat — and is scarcely seen by humans.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) last assessment of the species, carried out in 2014, concluded that flat-headed cats were endangered. They are primarily threatened by the loss and degradation of their wetlands and lowland forests, as well as other human pressures like overfishing and hunting.

Researchers went looking for the cats in remote areas of Thailand in what Panthera described as the "largest-ever survey of the species." The work is part of a new Panthera-led IUCN assessment of flat-headed cats, which Panthera expects to publish in early 2026.

The camera traps photographed several flat-headed cats, including a female with a cub, demonstrating that they are not only living in southern Thailand but also breeding in the region.

"Rediscovery of the flat-headed cat in southern Thailand is a significant win for conservation in Thailand and the broader southeast Asia region where the species is still found," Atthapol Charoenchansa, the director general of Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, said in the statement.