Good citizens restore a lost leopard cat to Thailand’s northern national park

In the same year, a leopard cat with injuries dubbed “Happy Tiger” was discovered at the Tsunami Memorial Wall in Phuket. Happy Tiger received therapy from the extraordinarily talented Soi Dog Foundation, but his left eye was already blind. Concerned that he would not survive in the wild, the foundation gave him to the Khao Phra Theaw Wildlife Education Centre in Thalang so he could start a new life there.

The Office of Conservation Area 11 posted pictures of a beautiful striped leopard kitten on their Facebook page with the following comment: “We are grateful to the community members who located and returned the leopardcat (Prionailurus bengalensis), a protected species of wildlife, to the employees of the national park after she became lost. The kind citizens of Phetchabun province in northern Thailand were able to aid in the recovery of a baby leopard cat that had strayed from Nam Nao National Park. The park is located in the province of Phetchabun. Before releasing her back into the wild, she will spend some time in the cat daycare center that we operate here. The Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act classifies leopard cats as a protected species (2019). “I would like to express my appreciation to the members of the public who work to safeguard Thailand’s wildlife.” Please contact the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation’s 24-hour hotline at (1362) if you encounter a lost or injured wild animal or a person who is committing an offense against wildlife. The leopard cat is a small wild cat that can be found in South, Southeast, and East Asia. On the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, this species has been classified as “Least Concern” since 2002. It is estimated that there are 50,000 leopard cats living in their natural habitat at now. There are populations of wild cats in the Amur region of Russia, the Korean Peninsula, China, Indochina, India, Pakistan, the foothills of the Himalayas, Japan, and Thailand. Leopard cats are prohibited as pets in Thailand since they are on the list of endangered species. In the year 2019, a missing leopard kitten was discovered in the vicinity of a rubber plantation in the southern Thai province of Krabi. She was lucky to be taken in by the Phang Nga Wildlife Nursery staff, who cared for her until she was ready to be returned to her natural habitat.