The Flat-headed cat appears to be found at low population densities, avoids oil palm plantations, and is closely associated with low lying wetland forests. Such wetland habitats have been, and continue to be exposed to some of the highest rates of deforestation in Southeast Asia.This deforestation and the increasing prevalence of vast tracts of oil palm plantations is likely resulting in the fragmentation of habitat and isolation of individual populations.

Over 45% of protected wetlands and 94% of globally significant wetlands in Southeast Asia are considered threatened. Causes include human settlement, draining for agriculture, pollution, and excessive hunting, wood-cutting and fishing. In addition, clearance of coastal mangroves over the past decade has been rapid. While there have been observations of the Flat-headed Cat in secondary forests there has not been any evidence that the Flat-headed Cat can also live in oil palm plantations.

 

 

Flat-headed Cats share one characteristic with the Cheetah and Fishing Cat, in that their claws are not fully retractile, and can be seen at all times. Their toes are more completely webbed than those of the Fishing Cat, and they have long, narrow footpads. Filling the role of a semi-aquatic carnivore, their long, narrow jaws and pointed, backward facing teeth are adaptations to catching and holding slippery prey such as fish and frogs. These cats may well be more deserving of the name ‘fishing cat’ than the species that already has that name.

For more information on this elusive feline, take a look at our Flat-headed Cat fact sheet. We will be happy to update it whenever any new information is received.

 

About the size of a domestic cat, the Flat-headed cat has an elongated body, short legs with small, rounded paws, and a short tail. The coat is thick, soft and long, reddish brown on top of the head and dark brown on the body, with a fine speckling of grey and buff on the tips. The muzzle, chin and cheeks are white, with short, white stripes at the inner edge and along the lower margins of eyes, and two dark streaks on each cheek. A yellow line runs up from each eye to near the ear. Large, brown eyes are set closely together, and short, rounded ears are set well down the sides of the head. The legs are short and can have some indistinct horizontal markings. The short tail is thickly furred, reddish brown above and yellowish underneath.

Stay tuned for more information on this elusive feline!

Have you ever seen a Flat-headed Cat, either in captivity or in the wild? Please comment below and tell us your experience!

Very little information is available on the Flat-headed Cat’s ecology and behaviour. It is believed to be a solitary, nocturnal and crepuscular animal. All observations of individuals were made at night or in the early morning. Most sightings have been of them walking on riverbanks. The Flat-headed Cat has also been observed swimming across rivers. Similar to other cats it sprays urine marks, but does so unlike any other cat: it walks forward in a crouching position leaving a trail on the ground.

Stay tuned for more information on this elusive feline!

Have you ever seen a Flat-headed Cat, either in captivity or in the wild? Please comment below and tell us your experience!

By Ricky Reino

This post is about my most recent trip – a weekend to Thailand to spend time with flat-headed cats!

Flat-headed cats are a little known species, native to some parts of south east Asia, such as the island of Borneo. They are specialised fish hunters and are classed as endangered on the IUCN Red List.

Around a year and a half ago I saw via the internet that there were a handful of flat-headed cats kept in captivity in Thailand, and so decided to get in contact with these collections.

It took a while of being passed between email addresses, but finally I was put in contact with the animal manager of a well known zoo not too far from Bangkok.

I explained through our conversations about myself and my interest in spending time with the zoo’s flat-headed cats to get a small glimpse at their behaviour and learn how they are managed by their keepers; but also offered to help bring ideas on enrichment etc – this was greatly accepted and we started to discuss things further.

I had to write an official letter, with proof of my professional history, to the director of the zoo, who accepted my request and sent me an official invite which was fantastic, and after that I was able to start planning.

I didn’t have anyone that was able to come with me from the UK, but as it was my cousin was travelling around Thailand with his girlfriend at the time so we all arranged to meet at Bangkok airport upon my arrival and go from there.

September 2014 arrived, and after a very long (not made better by a very loud, drunk man in the seat behind me) flight, I made my way through Bangkok airport, got screened for Ebola, passed through customs and then found my cousin.

The animal manager of the zoo was also waiting at the airport in one of the zoo vehicles, and drove my cousin and I the hour journey to the zoo, passing my massive traffic jams, and little villages, eventually moving into beautiful lush green forest.

As soon as we got there I was shown to my very own apartment (they were really taking care of me!) where I had time to freshen up then we were taken to meet the director. Both myself and my cousin were given the warmest of welcomes and also gifted a lovely book all about the animals kept at the zoo with some incredible pictures in it.

I was itching to see the zoo, so the animal manager drove us round taking us to see lots of animals such as the elephants, and the clouded leopards – which are another species of small cat, and an incredibly beautiful one at that! The zoo has a great breeding program for this species, working with other zoos globally to move on youngsters to spread the genes. I was privileged enough to be given the opportunity to interact with some young hand reared clouded leopards after meeting with the head keeper of these cats, which was fantastic. They were so full of life and so so agile running around and jumping out of the trees, running along the ground, bouncing off my shoulders then leaping back into the trees.

We were shown around the rest of the cat section, but as it was getting late we didn’t have much time so were taken back to the apartment and then taken for dinner at a beautiful wooden tower overlooking the forest about 20 minutes away from the zoo.

Unfortunately that night I became VERY ill, and had to rearrange plans and flights to come home as soon as possible. I was really glad that my cousin was there as he made sure I was OK and kept me hydrated etc.

Next morning, I forced myself to get up to do what I had travelled all the way to Thailand to do, even if it was just for the day rather than for a week as planned. I met the head cat keeper and was taken to the enclosure where the flat-headed cats were.

The first thing that struck me was the smell (which didn’t help when I wasn’t feeling great!) – lots of small cats have a strong smell, but this was a very different & strong smell. The zoo kept two males, one of which was hand reared. The cats clearly didn’t have much interaction with their keepers as they both stayed in their hollowed out log shelter, just watching what we were doing.

I went around the enclosure cleaning up the cats’ mess, raked their substrate and scrubbed out & refilled their pond as we were going to put their food ( a fish each) in there later that day. One of the cats came out of the resting place and walked over to the freshly cleaned pond once I had moved away from it, and interestingly I noticed that as he walked around, he was constantly letting out a very fine stream of urine, as a way of spreading his scent – this is probably why the smell in the enclosure was so strong!

It was interesting to really see the physique of this species when the cat was up and about.. a very short, round shape with a short and flattened tail. wide, webbed paws with claws that stuck out, just like those of the very closely related fishing cat. This species mainly hunts fish, so these physical adaptations help it hunt in and around the water. It was interesting to see just how flat the top of this cats’ head was too.. the reason why it is called the ‘flat-headed cat’.

 

Due to my changed flight schedule, I had to leave the flat-headed cats and the zoo, despite not having spent as much time there as I would have liked. I travelled back to the airport and said goodbye to my cousin and his girlfriend so that I could catch my flight home.

I keep in contact with the animal manager, and am very thankful at being given the opportunity to spend some time, however short it was, with one of the most endangered cat species on the planet. The opportunity for me to back to the zoo to spend time learning more is there, and I will definitely be going back in the future.

Thanks for reading!

Ricky

See also Flat-headed Cat