Rare ‘golden’ creature filmed sneaking through Thailand forest. Watch it prowl
In the vibrant green and earthy brown forests of Khao Luang National Park, one creature has to use the cover of darkness to hide its golden coat.
The Asian golden cat, or Temminck’s cat, is a medium-sized wild cat that calls the parks of Thailand and southeast Asia home, and typically sticks to a nocturnal lifestyle to hunt prey.
Now, a trail camera has captured the cat making a rare appearance.
A video shared by the Thailand Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation on July 8 shows a golden cat walk into frame, cross a clearing and head back into the dense forest on the other side.
The video is dated to June 20, according to the post.
Temminck’s cats are sleek with long legs, wildlife officials said, and are described as being a striking color.
The cats have a few black lines that run down their foreheads and a dark brown upper tail that is white underneath, according to the post.
Officials said the cats almost always keep their tails raised when they are walking, creating a kind of signature behavior that helps tell the animal apart from other wild cats.
The cats are found lurking in bamboo and montane forests, officials said, typically hunting at night and on their own.
Golden cats help regulate the ecosystem by keeping the amount of small mammals and rodents in check through hunting, officials said.
They are listed as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and officials said they are considered endangered in Thailand.
Seeing the cat in the national park was a good sign, but officials warn forest encroachment, illegal hunting and habitat destruction continue to threaten the golden cats.
Snares, used for illegal hunting, are particularly detrimental to the species, officials said.
Temminck’s cats are found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal and Thailand, according to the IUCN, with an estimated 7,000 cats living in the wild.
Khao Luang National Park is in the southern peninsula of Thailand, between the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea.
Chat GPT, an AI chat bot, was used to translate the Facebook post from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.
This story was originally published July 8, 2025 at 12:14 PM with the headline "Rare ‘golden’ creature filmed sneaking through Thailand forest. Watch it prowl."
