Rare and Elusive ‘Asian Golden Cat’ Captured on Trail Camera
A trail camera captured a rare glimpse of an Asian golden cat — one of the world’s most elusive wild cats.
The trail cameras, set up in Khao Luang National Park in southern Thailand, recorded footage of an Asian golden cat walking through the forest on June 20.
The feline species is generally considered to be Asia’s rarest cat — but is often overshadowed by its more famous relatives, such as snow leopards and tigers.
The remarkable video was recorded by Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation and shared the footage on its official Facebook page this month.
According to the Miami Herald, wildlife patrol teams had hiked into the park to check the trail cameras and review recent footage as part of their routine monitoring. However, one 10-second video stood out.
The clip shows an Asian golden cat calmly walking near the camera. It pauses briefly at the edge of the trees before disappearing back into the forest.
The ‘Vulnerable’ Asian Golden Cat
Park officials said the recent sighting of an Asian golden cat was extremely rare. These animals are solitary, nocturnal, and highly elusive, so scientists know very little about their behavior in the wild.
Asian golden cats are known for their striking coats, which can range in color from golden-brown to reddish, gray, or even black. This helps them blend into different forest environments and makes them skilled ambush predators. They typically weigh between 20 and 35 pounds and can grow up to 41 inches long, not including the tail. Their diet includes small mammals, birds, and reptiles, which they hunt using stealth and powerful leaps.
The species is listed as “Vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Major threats include habitat loss, poaching, and the illegal wildlife trade. Rapid deforestation and human development have disrupted their habitats, and they are also targeted for their fur and body parts.
The sighting comes after camera traps captured two rare big cats in Pakistan — one of them was thought to be possibly extinct. The Indus Fishing Cat Project captured images of an Asiatic caracal and a sand cat. Very little is known about the Pakistani sand cat, the smallest of all wildcats, and is listed as “possibly extinct.”
Image credits: Header photo via Facebook.
