Видео

You can contact us through: tontantravel.com/en/tours/kui-buri-tours/elephant-safari-kui-buri

Yes, we only get Indochinese Leopards (Panthera pardus delacouri) in Thailand. That's why it is special ;-) Not the rarest subspecies, but definitely a lot harder than e.g., African, or Sri Lankan Leopards. Also, in our region it is probably roughly 50/50 spotted versus black phase. We have seen both phases in Kaeng Krachan national park. Though the further south you go the higher the percentage of black phase seems to get.

@@Tontantravel yeah so leopards that live in forest or jungle like the javan, indian, malayan do have the melanistic gene more than the ones that live in open areas like the the African, Arabian and persian but it does occur in those subspecies too and the only predator that is above the Indochinese leopard is the Indochinese tiger which both animals populations are increasing like the siberian tiger and amur leopard populations

​@@rickstar6276 for the most part true yes, though there is not much information about increasing Indochinese Tiger population here in Thailand. Usually the estimate is set at about 200 in Thailand. Though when adding up the numbers of the well-studied populations, it is questionable if even that 200 is overly positive. And in our opinion the tiger is not the only predator above the leopard. Dholes are successful hunters taking larger prey. Surely one on one a leopard wins from a Dhole, but not as a pack.

@@Tontantravel though it is true the population is increasing there is no exact estimate on the the how many there are with one reason being that compared to the other mainland tiger subspecies not much is known about this one the only way they actual did realize the population was increasing was because of seeing new individuals and I would say that leopards and dholes are on the same level cause though the indochinese leopard is the 7th biggest subspecies it is still very strong and a skilled fighter like in india if a leopard does get surround by some dholes and has no quick escape route it will fight and in africa a leopard can fend off 4 lionesses and the indochinese leopard is similar and a lot of people underestimate leopards because they don't look that muscular say like a jaguar but they are very strong, skilled and agile fighters even an Arabian leopard can carry a 300lb ibex up the mountain slope and not a lot of people can do that and dholes are more aggressive to leopards than tigers it's cause leopards hunt them down for food while tigers won't bother cause its not worth it for them cause they won't gain much from it so both leopards and dhole seem on the same level but both are above clouded leopards that can take on one or two dholes

Yes, this was an amazing encounter. Actually at first when I spotted the eye shine, the cat was still in the bushes. At that point I wasn't sure yet what I was looking at. But I was specifically in that area to try and find Fishing Cat so I was hopeful. Then after some time it actually peeked through a gap in the bushes and I managed to shoot a photo with flash and only then I could see the features in the face to confirm I was indeed looking at a Fishing Cat, at that point a lifer for me. I sat down at the water and simply waited. After 15 minutes it appeared from the bushes. It spend some time right at the water edge, trying to catch some fish. Afterwards it laid down out in the open on the shore, just relaxing. And eventually it took off. The entire sighting from beginning to end was about one hour! By far the longest and best wild cat sighting I had ever had in Thailand. This was in February 2019. And in December that same year we did another targeted search for Fishing Cat, and at 22:30 spotted eyeshine in dense bush. It was on a bit of an embankment. And every now and then some wading birds would move almost within its reach, but then every time changed course in the wrong direction so he never actually attacked. We watched it for very long. At some point it moved off and we had lost sight of it, but then we noticed a dirt road around the lake, and there we spotted it again but this time really close to our car. We got some great images there. Would be amazing if you get it in Kanchanaburi.

@@Tontantravel Wow. Great stuff. We need to chat about that location. I'd really like to go after that.

@@thailandwild4897 will give you some directions next time we meet.

Thanks Darryl for the kind words!

@@Tontantravel You're welcome. I wish I had stayed on a few more days!!!

@@thailandwild4897 there will always be a next time ;-)

Thanks Marc! They are indeed not too commonly seen in Kaeng Krachan. We've had more luck in Khao Yai national park. Also, we noticed they seemed more skittish of our presence than what we have experienced in Khao Yai.

Yes, still in about 8 years we have spent in the Thai jungles now, we have had 3 separate sightings of Clouded Leopard. Extremely lucky! The first sighting was the best, a female with two nearly full-grown cubs slowly crossed the road in front of us on a night drive in Khao Yai national park. It still hurts to this day that we did not bring our camera that night :( The other two sightings (one in Khao Yai and other in Kaeng Krachan) were very brief and getting an image was simply impossible. So waiting for the next one ;-)

That's incredible. I've been lucky enough to have had 3 sightings of a Sunda Clouded Leopard in Borneo in just 4 nights, but I'm at a loss when it comes to travelling to see the Indochinese species. I hope a situation similar to the Snow Leopard will happen and tourists' interest will eventually create very specialized tours. This is probably the most stunning animal on earth.

Yes I know. We offer wildlife tours in Thailand, but there is no way that we can guarantee a chance like in Borneo ;-) We do not get special permissions to go out at night in the bigger parks and operate night drives by ourselves. Only Khao Yai national park has a night safari service but we can only do that with a park staff member as driver and spotlighting assistant and they are not professional enough to know how to properly operate such drives. Also this is only possible on a limited route. Still we have had luck once on those night safaris, but we could surely increase our chances a lot if they would allow us to fully operate this by ourselves with no restrictions in route and timing... But I guess that will remain a dream. We know various spots where we have frequently found scrapes of Clouded Leopard, and where we got these trap videos. I haven't been there, but get jealous when I hear the permissions tour operators get in a reserve like Deramakot in Borneo. I suppose that is where you got your sightings, or not? If we would get similar permissions here in Thailand we would much increase our chances. Still with luck it can work out. Couple days ago we got to see/ photograph Indochinese Leopard (spotted phase) on a trip in Huai Kha Khaeng.

Yes, you made a good guess: I saw them in Deramakot with Mike Gordon. I guess it stays a dream until enough tourist interest makes it worthwile for the government. Their management of Deramakot is very interesting on that matter. I am incredibly jealous of anyone who has seen the Idonchinese species and I often wonder how many people have.

Yes I wonder too. Nearly all the people we know who spent lots of time in the national parks in Thailand still have never seen a Clouded Leopard. Some guides and park staff have seen them, but other than that it is a very small group of people. With three separate sightings I might be record holder, hahaha. Though it has purely to do with the amount of time spent in the jungles, and even more importantly, a lot of luck! Another rare one on my life list is the Marbled Cat which I got to see once in Khao Yai national park. So far I have seen 4 out of the 9 wild cats of Thailand. A lot of Leopard Cats, and since this week my counter for Indochinese Leopard is at 4 (1 black phase, 3 spotted phase). Anyway, if I ever find out a spot with a real chance to see the Indochinese Clouded Leopard, I will let you know ;-)

Thanks Joachim! And it looks like a very healthy specimen. We also got a Asiatic Black Bear with two cubs that played for quite a while right in front of the camera!