Shy creature — named after ‘hundred-eyed giant' — makes rare appearance in Thailand

Miami Herald

10-03-2025

In a forest of southern Thailand, a shy creature walked into a clearing and looked around, its blue head jerked from side to side before it disappeared into the trees. Nearby, a trail camera captured the rare animal's brief appearance.
The footage left conservationists stunned.
Wildlife officials at Kaeng Krung National Park set up a series of trail cameras as part of a joint monitoring project with the World Wildlife Fund, Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation said in a March 4 Facebook post.
When they returned to the cameras and reviewed the footage, park officials found seven clips showing the great argus, a rare type of pheasant, wandering through the forest.
The videos, filmed between January 16 to 27, show at least two great arguses, a male and a female. One video shows a male bird walking very close to the camera, its blue head and feathers with eye-like spots are clearly visible at different points.
The great argus was named after the 'hundred-eyed giant in Greek mythology' because of the 'intricate eye-like patterns on its wings,' Thai National Parks said. Its largely brown and black coloring is duller than other pheasant species, but its courtship call and dance is 'among the most remarkable.'
Other videos from Kaeng Krung National Park show a male great argus walking through a forest clearing, pecking the ground and looking around.
One sighting included a female bird — identifiable by its shorter tail feathers — wandering past, the video shows.
The great argus is very rarely seen in the dense forests of southern Thailand because it is both an at-risk species and generally considered shy, wildlife officials said.
Officials considered the recent sightings as a conservation success and an indication of the health of Kaeng Krung National Park's ecosystems. They plan to use the sightings to study the birds and plan future conservation efforts.
Kaeng Krung National Park is in southern Thailand, near the border with Myanmar and a roughly 405-mile drive southwest from Bangkok.
Google Translate was used to translate the Facebook post from Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.