Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife: Thailand’s Last Great Wilderness

Sambar Deer Common Vulnerable

Rusa unicolor

Asia's largest deer, and often a park's most dependable big animal, with stags carrying rugged three tined antlers.

Where: Throughout the dry forest. Best: Year round, dusk.

Wild Boar Common

Sus scrofa

The rugged wild pig at the base of the food chain, rooting up the forest and feeding the region's great predators.

Where: Throughout. Best: Year round, dusk.

Indochinese Ground Squirrel Regular

Menetes berdmorei

A ground-loving squirrel of open forest and field edges, striped along the flanks and rarely up a tree.

Where: Dry dipterocarp forest floor. Best: Year round, day.

Northern Red Muntjac Regular

Muntiacus vaginalis

The barking deer of Thai forests, a small russet deer whose sharp, dog-like alarm call rings through the trees.

Where: Track and forest edges. Best: Year round, dawn and dusk.

Dhole (Asiatic Wild Dog) Occasional Endangered

Cuon alpinus

A russet red pack hunter that whistles to coordinate the chase, one of Asia's most endangered predators.

Where: Dry forest and grassland openings. Best: Nov-Apr, morning, best Feb-Apr.

Gaur Occasional Vulnerable

Bos gaurus

The largest wild cattle on Earth, a muscle bound giant that dwarfs any farm cow.

Where: Grassland edges and salt licks. Best: Nov-Apr, dawn, best Feb-Apr.

Malayan Porcupine Occasional

Hystrix brachyura

A large, ground-dwelling porcupine that rattles a crown of black-and-white quills when threatened.

Where: Track edges at night. Best: Year round, night.

Asian Golden Cat Rare Near Threatened

Catopuma temminckii

A powerful, foxy-red forest cat of medium size, secretive enough that much of its life remains a mystery.

Where: Forest edges in the core zone. Best: Nov-Apr, dawn and dusk.

Banteng Rare Endangered

Bos javanicus

A sleek wild ox with a white rump patch and white stockings, far rarer and more elegant than the domestic cattle it resembles.

Where: Grassland and dry dipterocarp forest. Best: Nov-Apr, dusk, best Feb-Apr at the salt licks. Huai Kha Khaeng holds Thailand's most significant banteng population.

Clouded Leopard Rare Vulnerable

Neofelis nebulosa

Perhaps the most beautiful cat you will almost certainly never see, cloud blotched, tree climbing and maddeningly elusive.

Where: Deep forest in the core zone. Best: Nov-Apr, night, best Feb-Apr.

Eld's Deer (Brow-antlered Deer) Rare Endangered

Rucervus eldii

An elegant deer whose antlers sweep forward in a great bow, a grassland specialist now clinging on in a few reserves.

Where: Open dry forest in the sanctuary interior. Best: Nov-Apr, early morning, best Feb-Apr once the leaves are down.

Indochinese Tiger Very rare Endangered

Panthera tigris

The largest cat in Asia and its top predator, a striped ghost most people only ever know from a paw print.

Where: The core zone, closed to general visitors. Best: Nov-Apr, dawn and dusk. The most important tiger population in Southeast Asia, and deliberately unreachable. Access is by permit and research programme only.

Crested Serpent Eagle Common

Spilornis cheela

A snake-hunting eagle that circles the forest on broad wings, calling with a far-carrying, wailing whistle.

Where: Perched over open forest. Best: Year round, day.

Red Junglefowl Common

Gallus gallus

The wild ancestor of every chicken on Earth, a wary, glossy rooster of the forest edge.

Where: Forest tracks and edges. Best: Year round, day.

Green Peafowl Occasional Endangered

Pavo muticus

The wild, and far rarer, cousin of the familiar peacock, with metallic green plumage and a towering train.

Where: Riverine grassland and dry forest clearings. Best: Dec-Apr, dawn, listen for the call. One of the last strongholds in Thailand.

Grey Peacock-Pheasant Occasional

Polyplectron bicalcaratum

A shy forest pheasant spangled with iridescent eyespots that flash blue-green when it displays.

Where: Evergreen patches at first light. Best: Year round, dawn.

Great Slaty Woodpecker Rare Vulnerable

Mulleripicus pulverulentus

The largest woodpecker in Asia, a long-necked grey giant that travels the tall forest in noisy family bands.

Where: Tall dipterocarps in the dry forest. Best: Year round, morning.

Banded Krait Occasional

Bungarus fasciatus

Unmistakable in bold black and yellow bands, a powerfully venomous snake that is oddly timid after dark.

Where: Tracks after rain. Best: May-Oct, night.

Bengal Monitor Occasional

Varanus bengalensis

A dry-country monitor that climbs well, digs constantly and eats essentially anything smaller than itself.

Where: Dry forest floor and termite mounds. Best: Year round, warm hours.

Burmese Python Occasional Vulnerable

Python bivittatus

One of the largest snakes on Earth, a giant constrictor that can swallow prey the size of a deer.

Where: Grassland margins and waterholes. Best: Nov-Apr, day.

Clouded Monitor Occasional

Varanus nebulosus

A more terrestrial, forest loving cousin of the water monitor, often seen digging for beetles and crabs.

Where: Forest floor and low trunks. Best: Year round, day.

Malayan Pit Viper Occasional

Calloselasma rhodostoma

A short, bad tempered viper that lies still on the forest floor and bites more people in the region than almost any other snake.

Where: Leaf litter on the forest floor. Best: May-Oct, night.

Elongated Tortoise Rare Critically Endangered

Indotestudo elongata

A forest tortoise whose pale head flushes pink around the eyes and nose in the breeding season.

Where: Dry forest floor after rain. Best: May-Oct.

King Cobra Rare Vulnerable

Ophiophagus hannah

The world's longest venomous snake, and one of the shyest, so a sighting is a genuine holy grail.

Where: Stream valleys in the warm months. Best: Mar-Jun, day.

Mound-building Termite Common

Macrotermes gilvus

Farms fungus in underground gardens and air-conditions the whole mound passively, holding it within a degree of target year round.

Where: Mounds throughout the dry forest. Best: Year round, day.

Giant Forest Ant Regular

Camponotus gigas

One of the largest ants on earth, and colonies keep a standing army of soldiers whose only job is to fight border wars with the neighbours.

Where: Trunks at night. Best: Year round, night.

Giant Dung Beetle Occasional

Heliocopris bucephalus

Arrives at fresh elephant dung within minutes, and buries a ball of it half a metre down before dawn.

Where: Fresh dung on the tracks. Best: May-Oct.