A wildcat thought to be extinct has been discovered in Thailand.

A rare wildcat that has been considered extinct in Thailand for decades has been rediscovered almost 30 years after the last confirmed sighting. This was reported on December 26 by Science X magazine with reference to national environmental authorities and an environmental organization.

Flat-headed cats are among the rarest and most endangered feral felines in the world. According to estimates by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), there are about 2.5 thousand adult individuals left in the wild around the world. Their range is limited to Southeast Asia, and their numbers are declining due to habitat loss and fragmentation. In Thailand, this species was last recorded in 1995, after which it was considered "possibly extinct."

According to the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Protection of Thailand and the wildcat conservation organization Panthera, an environmental survey launched in 2024 at the Princess Sirindhorn Wildlife Sanctuary in the south of the country recorded 29 sightings.

Kasetsart University veterinarian and researcher Kaset Sutasha emphasized that the rediscovery caused pleasant excitement, but also concern. According to him, the fragmentation of the habitat has led to the fact that this species is becoming more and more "isolated."

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Panthera program Manager Rattapan Pattanarangsan, in turn, clarified that the data obtained indicate a relatively high concentration of the species in the area. The recordings also included footage of a female flathead cat with a cub, a rare and encouraging sign for a species that usually brings only one cub at a time.

The flat—headed cat leads a nocturnal and secretive lifestyle and lives mainly in inaccessible swampy ecosystems - peat bogs and freshwater mangrove forests. It was the difficulty of accessing such territories that prevented scientists from obtaining new data on the species for a long time.

Sutasha clarified that the country's peat forests have been severely affected by the plowing of land and the expansion of agriculture. In addition to habitat loss, animals are threatened by diseases transmitted from pets, as well as difficulties with reproduction in isolated populations. According to the expert, despite the encouraging discovery, it is only a starting point for further work on the conservation of the species.

"The most important thing that follows is how to give them the opportunity to live next to us sustainably, without being threatened," Sutasha added.

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On December 11, the journal PLOS One reported the discovery of a new species of miniature frogs in southern Brazil. It was specified that the amphibian is bright orange in color, and its length barely exceeds 1 cm. According to the publication, the new species belongs to the family of shortheads and was named Brachycephalus lulai — in honor of Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.

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