Rare big cats spotted in Khlong Lan National Park-VIDEO

The Facebook page of Khlong Lan National Park in Thailand’s northwestern Kamphaeng Phet province, reports that camera traps, set up to track the population of tigers, instead, managed to capture a sighting of a black panther and leopard.

“The appearance of the panther and leopard prove that the forest has become more abundant and attracted the return of these animals after no sightings were reported for several years.

“The population of tigers in Thailand’s forests has been dropping significantly over the past decades and they have been classified as an endangered species due to the diminishing natural habitat, poaching and lack of food.”

The Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation in cooperation with WWF Thailand, has set up camera traps covering 1,200s square kilometers of Mae Wong and Khlong Lan national parks, which are believed to have the most tigers in the country.

Thung Yai Naresuan forest two years ago

Rangers at Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary apprehended 63-year-old Premchai Karnasuta

There are around 200 Indochinese leopards in Thailand, according to experts. If one of them is killed, this means the total population was reduced by 0.5%. two years ago when rangers at Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary apprehended 63-year-old Premchai Karnasuta, president of the construction company Italian-Thai Development, along with his party.

They were carrying several carcasses, including that of a rare black leopard. Officials found skinned carcasses of protected wild animals, including a 1.48-meter-long black panther, a Kalij Pheasant and a barking deer, three long-barrelled guns, and ammunition in his possession.

Rare Indochinese Tiger Population Discovered in Eastern Thailand 3 years ago

We don’t have such accurate statistics for Indochinese leopards but we know for a fact that they are practically extinct. The Indochinese tigers and leopards are both on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Nonetheless, the situation in Thailand has drastically improved in the last 20-30 years, since the death of conservationist and environmental activist Seub Nakhasathien and the creation of the Seub Nakhasathien Foundation.

Source: Rare big cats spotted in Thai national park

Photos supplied by Piyarach Choncharoen

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