Kaeng Krachan Wildlife: What You Will Actually See

Himalayan Striped Squirrel Common

Tamiops mcclellandii

A tiny, chipmunk-like squirrel streaked with pale racing stripes, forever flickering over the bark.

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

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: Ban Krang campsite margins and the road at night. Best: Year round, dusk.

White-handed (Lar) Gibbon Common Endangered

Hylobates lar

You hear them before dawn even breaks, the whooping duet of gibbons that is the definitive soundtrack of Asian rainforest.

Where: Canopy around Ban Krang campsite. Best: Year round, 06:00-08:30. The dawn calls start before the light does; the campsite is inside a territory.

Asian Elephant Regular Endangered

Elephas maximus

The largest land animal in Asia, and a genuinely wild one is worth seeking out over the camp elephants most tourists meet.

Where: The Ban Krang road, stream crossings and mineral seeps. Best: Dec-Apr, dusk and night, best Feb-Apr at the stream crossings. Herds use the road itself. If you meet one in a vehicle, reverse; never drive past.

Black Giant Squirrel Regular Near Threatened

Ratufa bicolor

A squirrel the length of your arm, jet black above and buttery below, crashing through the canopy with a metre long tail.

Where: Canopy along the road. Best: Year round, morning.

Malayan Porcupine Regular

Hystrix brachyura

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

Where: Campsite margins after dark. Best: Year round, night.

Red Giant Flying Squirrel Regular

Petaurista petaurista

A cat-sized, deep-red squirrel that glides between trees on a membrane, sailing over a hundred metres in a single launch.

Where: Tall trees at Ban Krang at dusk. Best: Year round, just after sunset.

Stump-tailed Macaque Regular Vulnerable

Macaca arctoides

A shaggy, red-faced forest macaque with a stub of a tail and a habit of staying deep in the hills.

Where: Roadsides above Ban Krang. Best: Year round, day.

Yellow-throated Marten Regular

Martes flavigula

A big, bounding, golden-throated marten that hunts boldly by day and fears almost nothing its own size.

Where: The road above Ban Krang by day. Best: Year round, morning. Bold and diurnal; often crosses in front of vehicles.

Asiatic Brush-tailed Porcupine Occasional

Atherurus macrourus

A smaller, rat-like porcupine that trails a long tail tipped with a rattling brush of hollow bristles.

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

Assamese Macaque Occasional Near Threatened

Macaca assamensis

A stocky highland macaque of limestone hills and northern forests, easily missed among its commoner relatives.

Where: Rocky slopes towards Panoen Thung. Best: Year round, day.

Bengal Slow Loris Occasional Endangered

Nycticebus bengalensis

The only venomous primate on Earth, huge eyed and slow motion, with a toxic bite armed from glands on its arms.

Where: Night drives along the Ban Krang road. Best: Year round, after 20:00.

Crab-eating Mongoose Occasional

Herpestes urva

A large grizzled mongoose with a bold white neck stripe, usually found busily working a forest stream.

Where: Streams beside the road. Best: Year round, day.

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: The road between Ban Krang and Panoen Thung. Best: Dec-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: Grassy openings and the road above Ban Krang. Best: Dec-Apr, dawn, best Feb-Apr.

Hog Badger Occasional Vulnerable

Arctonyx collaris

A stocky, pig-snouted badger that roots through the forest floor with a mobile, rubbery nose.

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

Leopard (incl. Black Panther) Occasional Vulnerable

Panthera pardus

A big cat that is unusually often born jet black, prowling as the fabled black panther.

Where: The Ban Krang to Panoen Thung road, especially the first and last light hours. Best: Dec-Apr, dawn, best Feb-Apr. Kaeng Krachan is the best place in Thailand to see a leopard, and black individuals are regular here.

Lesser Mouse-deer Occasional

Tragulus kanchil

One of the smallest hoofed animals in the world, a delicate, rabbit-sized deer relative that tiptoes on pencil-thin legs.

Where: Understorey beside the road at night. Best: Year round, night.

Masked Palm Civet Occasional

Paguma larvata

A plain-bodied civet with a bold white blaze running down its masked face, a nimble night climber after fruit.

Where: Fruiting trees on night drives. Best: Year round, night.

Smooth-coated Otter Occasional Vulnerable

Lutrogale perspicillata

Family flotillas of sleek otters fishing, wrestling and chirruping through rivers and pools, endlessly watchable.

Where: The Phetchaburi River and the reservoir arms. Best: Nov-Apr, morning.

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 on the upper road. Best: Dec-Apr, dawn and dusk, best Feb-Apr.

Asiatic Black Bear Rare Vulnerable

Ursus thibetanus

The moon bear, bigger and shaggier than the sun bear, with a bold cream crescent across its chest.

Where: Higher forest towards Panoen Thung. Best: Dec-Apr, morning.

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: Forest along the upper road above Ban Krang. Best: Dec-Apr, night, best Feb-Apr. A handful of road sightings each season. The definition of luck.

Mainland Serow Rare Vulnerable

Capricornis sumatraensis

A shaggy, goat-like antelope of steep limestone cliffs, sure-footed on ground almost nothing else can climb.

Where: Limestone slopes and cliffs near Panoen Thung. Best: Dec-Apr, dawn.

Malayan Tapir Rare Endangered

Tapirus indicus

A living oddity, half jet black and half stark white, that looks assembled from spare parts.

Where: Stream beds and mineral seeps near Ban Krang. Best: Dec-Apr, night, best Feb-Apr at the mineral seeps. Kaeng Krachan is the most realistic place in Thailand to see one, which still means a long night.

Marbled Cat Rare Near Threatened

Pardofelis marmorata

A small, exquisitely marbled cat with an enormous tail, built for a life almost entirely in the trees.

Where: Canopy and forest edge above Ban Krang. Best: Year round, night.

Spotted Linsang Rare

Prionodon pardicolor

A slinky, exquisitely spotted little hunter, so slender and marked it looks like a living piece of jewellery.

Where: Deep forest at night. Best: Year round, night.

Sun Bear Rare Vulnerable

Helarctos malayanus

The world's smallest bear, with a golden chest crescent and a tongue long enough to raid a bee's nest.

Where: Fruiting forest around Ban Krang campsite. Best: Dec-Apr, dawn and dusk.

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 deep forest west of Panoen Thung, well beyond visitor access. Best: Nov-Apr, night and first light. Present but effectively unseeable. Camera traps confirm it; visitors do not.

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 the road. Best: Year round, day.

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo Common

Dicrurus paradiseus

A glossy black forest bird trailing two long wire tails tipped with twirling rackets, and a gifted mimic.

Where: Everywhere along the road. 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 edges and campsite margins. Best: Year round, day.

Asian Fairy-bluebird Regular

Irena puella

A fig-loving forest bird where the male glows brilliant ultramarine and jet black in the canopy shade.

Where: Fruiting trees at Ban Krang. Best: Year round, morning.

Blue Whistling Thrush Regular

Myophonus caeruleus

A big, spangled blue-black thrush of shady streams whose loud human-like whistle rings through the ravines at dawn.

Where: Wet rocks along the streams. Best: Year round, morning.

Blue-eared Barbet Regular

Psilopogon duvaucelii

A jewel-faced little barbet of the forest canopy, green-bodied with a patchwork of blue, black and red on the head.

Where: Fruiting trees along the road. Best: Year round, all day.

Changeable Hawk-eagle Regular

Nisaetus cirrhatus

A powerful forest eagle that comes in pale and dark forms, ambushing prey with a fast strike from the canopy.

Where: Emergent trees along the road. Best: Year round, mid-morning.

Chestnut-headed Bee-eater Regular

Merops leschenaulti

A compact green bee-eater crowned in warm chestnut, sallying for bees along forest edges and clearings.

Where: Open edges and the reservoir side. Best: Year round, day.

Crimson Sunbird Regular

Aethopyga siparaja

A living ember of a bird, the male ablaze in scarlet and metallic green as it hovers at forest blossoms.

Where: Flowering trees at the campsite. Best: Year round, morning.

Golden-fronted Leafbird Regular

Chloropsis aurifrons

A leaf-green bird that all but vanishes in the canopy until it turns to reveal a golden forehead and blue-black mask.

Where: Fruiting trees along the road. Best: Year round, day.

Great Hornbill Regular Vulnerable

Buceros bicornis

A three metre wingbeat you hear before you see, the flagship bird of Asian rainforest canopy.

Where: Fruiting figs along the Ban Krang road and over the valley from Panoen Thung. Best: Year round, 06:30-09:00. The view from Panoen Thung at dawn puts hornbills below eye level, above a sea of mist.

Greater Flameback Regular

Chrysocolaptes guttacristatus

A big, golden-backed woodpecker that blazes across the trunk, the males topped with a flaming scarlet crest.

Where: Large trunks along the road. Best: Year round, day.

Green-billed Malkoha Regular

Phaenicophaeus tristis

A long, slinking grey cuckoo with a bright green bill and a crimson eye-patch, creeping through thickets like a feathered lizard.

Where: Roadside tangles. Best: Year round, day.

Large-tailed Nightjar Regular

Caprimulgus macrurus

A cryptic dusk-hunter whose loud, repeated chonk chonk call sounds like an axe striking wood across the clearing.

Where: The road surface after dark. Best: Year round, dusk onward.

Little Spiderhunter Regular

Arachnothera longirostra

A drab bird with an outrageously long, curved bill, built for plundering nectar deep inside wild banana flowers.

Where: Wild banana stands along the road. Best: Year round, morning.

Long-tailed Broadbill Regular

Psarisomus dalhousiae

A cartoonish beauty in parrot green with a black cap, blue crown patch and a long blue tail.

Where: Mid-storey along the road. Best: Year round, morning.

Red-headed Trogon Regular

Harpactes erythrocephalus

A quietly stunning forest bird, the male crimson headed and rose breasted, that sits motionless and is easy to miss.

Where: Shaded mid-storey on the trails. Best: Year round, morning.

Scarlet Minivet Regular

Pericrocotus speciosus

A drift of flame through the treetops, the males scarlet and black, the females gold and grey, moving in restless flocks.

Where: Canopy flocks along the road. Best: Year round, day.

Siamese Fireback Regular

Lophura diardi

Thailand's national bird, a stately grey pheasant with a golden back patch and a bare crimson face.

Where: Roadside and trail edges at first light. Best: Year round, 06:00-08:00.

White-crowned Forktail Regular

Enicurus leschenaulti

A dapper black-and-white bird of rushing forest streams, forever flicking a long, deeply forked tail.

Where: The stream at Ban Krang. Best: Year round, morning. Works the rocks right beside the campsite.

Wreathed Hornbill Regular Vulnerable

Rhyticeros undulatus

A big forest hornbill that travels in noisy flocks, its throat pouch pleated like folded cloth.

Where: Fruiting trees along the road. Best: Year round, morning.

Banded Kingfisher Occasional

Lacedo pulchella

A forest kingfisher that shuns water, the male banded blue and black, the female in rich rufous bars.

Where: Dry forest along the lower road. Best: Year round, heard at dawn. Found by its long whistled call rather than by sight.

Black-and-red Broadbill Occasional

Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchos

A striking riverside broadbill in black and crimson with a two-tone turquoise and yellow bill.

Where: Streams and the river below the campsite. Best: Year round, morning.

Black-thighed Falconet Occasional

Microhierax fringillarius

One of the smallest birds of prey on Earth, a sparrow-sized falcon that hunts dragonflies and small birds from a bare twig.

Where: Dead snags at forest edges. Best: Year round, day.

Blue-bearded Bee-eater Occasional

Nyctyornis athertoni

A big, shaggy bee-eater with a dangling blue throat-beard, more skulking and forest-loving than its dashing cousins.

Where: Forest edge near Ban Krang. Best: Year round, morning.

Grey Peacock-Pheasant Occasional

Polyplectron bicalcaratum

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

Where: Quiet trails near Ban Krang. Best: Year round, dawn.

Silver-breasted Broadbill Occasional

Serilophus lunatus

A soft grey and rufous broadbill with a powder blue wing flash and a delicate silver breast.

Where: Streamside forest near Ban Krang. Best: Year round, morning.

Blue Pitta Rare

Hydrornis cyaneus

A jewel of the forest floor, blue and buff and maddeningly hard to see, the holy grail of many a birding trip.

Where: Damp forest floor near Ban Krang. Best: Apr-Jul, dawn.

Blyth's Frogmouth Rare

Batrachostomus affinis

A bizarre nocturnal bird with a huge frog-like gape, so like a broken branch by day that it is almost impossible to find.

Where: Understorey near Ban Krang at night. Best: Year round, night.

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 on the lower road. Best: Year round, morning. The largest woodpecker in Asia and a serious birding prize.

Large-eyed Pit Viper Regular

Trimeresurus macrops

Vivid green with enormous copper eyes, and it hunts entirely by heat, so darkness makes no difference to it.

Where: Low branches beside the road. Best: May-Oct, night.

Oriental Whip Snake (Asian Vine Snake) Regular

Ahaetulla prasina

A snake so slender and green it looks like a hanging vine, with strange keyhole shaped pupils.

Where: Roadside scrub. Best: Year round, day.

White-lipped Pit Viper Regular

Trimeresurus albolabris

A vivid green viper that drapes over branches at night, one of the most encountered venomous snakes in the tropics.

Where: Streamside vegetation at night. Best: May-Oct, night.

Banded Krait Occasional

Bungarus fasciatus

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

Where: The road after rain. Best: May-Oct, night.

Common Flying Dragon Occasional

Draco maculatus

A tiny lizard that unfurls bright wings from its ribs and glides between tree trunks like a paper dart.

Where: Trunks in sunlit clearings. Best: Year round, mid-morning.

Green Cat Snake Occasional

Boiga cyanea

Hatches out brick red, turns olive as a juvenile and ends up emerald green, three colours in one lifetime.

Where: Overhanging branches at night. Best: Year round, night.

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 lower trails. Best: May-Oct, night.

Mountain Horned Dragon Occasional

Acanthosaura crucigera

Sits so still on a mossy trunk that people walk within a foot of it, spines, crest and all.

Where: Saplings on the higher road towards Panoen Thung. Best: Year round, day.

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 and the road in the warm months. Best: Mar-Jun, day.

Siamese Crocodile Very rare Critically Endangered

Crocodylus siamensis

A freshwater crocodile once thought nearly extinct in the wild, now clinging on in a few remote Thai wetlands.

Where: Remote stretches of the Phetchaburi River. Best: Year round, mid-morning while basking. One of the last Thai populations, in water visitors do not reach.

Kuhl's Creek Frog Occasional

Limnonectes kuhlii

Males grow tusk-like projections from the lower jaw and use them to wrestle rivals in the stream.

Where: Rocky streams below the campsite. Best: May-Oct, night.

Malayan Giant Toad Occasional

Phrynoidis asper

The biggest toad in Southeast Asia, and it sits in the spray zone of waterfalls where nothing can hear it call.

Where: Stream margins near Ban Krang. Best: May-Oct, night.

Blue-spotted Tiger Beetle Regular

Cicindela aurulenta

Runs so fast it goes temporarily blind, and has to stop to work out where its prey went.

Where: Bare road surface in sunlight. 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 along the trails. Best: Year round, night.

Golden Birdwing Regular

Troides aeacus

A huge butterfly with black forewings and blazing golden hindwings, sailing high along the forest edge.

Where: Damp ground and flowering edges along the road. Best: Feb-May, sunny mornings. Males gather at damp patches on the road in numbers.

Giraffe Stag Beetle Occasional

Prosopocoilus giraffa

The longest stag beetle in the world, with jaws nearly as long as the rest of it, used to lever rivals off a tree.

Where: Sap runs and campsite lights. Best: Apr-Aug, night.

Malayan Moon Moth Occasional

Actias maenas

The adult has no mouth at all, lives about a week, and spends every hour of it looking for a mate.

Where: Campsite lights at Ban Krang. Best: Mar-Jun and Sep-Nov, night.

Orange Oakleaf Occasional

Kallima inachus

Electric blue and orange in flight, and the instant it lands it becomes a dry dead leaf, complete with a fake midrib.

Where: Shaded trail edges. Best: Year round, sunny mornings.

Orchid Mantis Rare

Hymenopus coronatus

It does not hide among flowers, it outperforms them: pollinators are more attracted to the mantis than to real blossom.

Where: Flowering shrubs at forest edges. Best: Mar-Jun, day.

Long-horned Orb-weaver Occasional

Macracantha arcuata

Two curved spines rise from its back several times longer than the spider itself, and nobody is entirely sure why.

Where: Webs across trail gaps. Best: May-Oct.

Net-casting Spider Rare

Deinopis sp.

Holds a stretchy web between its front legs and throws it over prey like a gladiator with a net.

Where: Low vegetation on night walks. Best: May-Oct, night.

Painted Tree Snail Occasional

Amphidromus atricallosus

A tree snail that comes in both left and right handed shells, sometimes within a single population, which is almost unheard of.

Where: Wet vegetation after rain. Best: May-Oct.

Tiger Leech Common

Haemadipsa picta

Waits on leaf tips with one end waving, detecting your breath and body heat from a metre away.

Where: Wet trails in the green season. Best: May-Oct.