Black, spotted leopards filmed togrther in Kaeng Krachan

A wildlife photographer has reported seeing two black and three spotted leopards together on a road in Kaeng Krachan National Park, highlighting the ecological richness of the Unesco World Heritage forest.

Park chief Mongkol Chaipakdee said on Sunday they received a report of the five leopards being sighted between 9am and 10am on Sunday

They were seen around the kilometre 3 marker on the Ban Krang Camp road, near the park's Khao Sam Yot protection unit, known as KJ 2.

Independent wildlife photographer Natnalee Suraplanan managed to photograph and film a female black leopard and a male spotted leopard. The other three, one black and two spotted, quickly disappeared into the roadside bushes.

The sighting is a rare occurrence in Thailand's protected areas.

Mr Mongkol said a preliminary assessment of the animals' physical characteristics and behaviour suggested all five were juveniles, aged two to three years, and likely siblings born to the same parents and raised in the same litter.

He said the survival of these apex predators was an important indicator of abundant prey populations and a healthy, secure ecosystem in the World Heritage forest.

The park thanked Ms Natnalee for donating all the photographs and video footage to the authorities for scientific and research purposes.

The photos were considered valuable ecological data for assessing biodiversity and the movement of protected wildlife through the forest's outer connecting areas.

The sighting was only about 5km from a proposed dolomite mine.

Kaeng Krachan National Park will add the photographs and footage to its camera-trap and wildlife-sighting database, to help monitor leopard behaviour and population distribution.

Officials will also strengthen patrols under the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool system in nearby high-risk areas, to minimise any disturbance to wildlife and protect their habitats over the long term.