This spectacular, ground-dwelling bird is endemic to the forests of Indochina, where industrial-level snaring for bushmeat compounded with rapid rates of forest loss have caused very rapid declines in its population over the past three generations (18 years). It is therefore listed as Endangered.

Carpococcyx renauldi is endemic to South-East Asia. In Cambodia, relatively widespread (at least formerly) in semi-evergreen and hill evergreen forests, including in the Cardamom mountains (Goes 2013). In Lao PDR, historically probably widespread throughout what Timmins et al. (in press) define as the 'Lao Lowlands' as well as the foothills and lower slopes of the Annamites, and probably very marginally at the southern edge of northern Lao PDR; now, however, the species is extremely localised (Timmins et al. in press). In Viet Nam its status is not well known but it was probably widespread in the country's south and centre, with historical records stretching north to at least Ke Go (eBird 2024). In Thailand the species at one time occurred as far north as Phayao province (Robson 1986) but now confined to the country's east, with recent records from Khao Yai NP, Khao Khitchakut NP, Khao Ang Rue Nai WS, Phanom Dong Rak WS, Huai Sala WS, Phu Khieo WS, Thung Salaeng Luang NP and Phu Chong–Na Yoi NP (eBird 2024).

The global population size has not been quantified.

Previously the species was considered uncommon in lowland forest throughout the range (del Hoyo et al. 1997), but at the time of that judgement the species was locally common in some areas, e.g. Lao PDR (Thewlis et al. 1998) and, probably, northern Cambodia. In recent years it has been only sparingly and very locally recorded, despite significant camera-trapping where it can have reasonably been expected (Gray et al. 2017, Timmins et al. in press)—it is therefore very likely that the species' global population is now much smaller than it was three generations ago. The current situation is discussed for each range state below.

At one time, Lao PDR probably hosted a majority of this species’ global population (simply by virtue of available habitat area) but the last couple of decades of intense snaring pressure (see Population Trend justification) have now rendered it scarce and highly local. As detailed by Timmins et al. (in press), there are large areas of suitable habitat where the species should reasonably be expected, but recent survey effort has failed to find them. Only in the subcatchment of the Nam Ngiep 1 Hydropower Project (NNP1) has the species in Lao PDR proved common recently (Vongkhamheng et al. 2015), a site that Timmins et al. (in press) argues ‘typifies a site pre-snaring’.

In Cambodia, Goes (2013) considered it a 'probably fairly common and widespread resident' and detailed records from across much of the country; it has probably declined steeply since with recent surveys where it might have been expected (e.g. Gray et al. 2017, Auda 2023), but recent records include observations from Phnom Aural and Changkran Roy (eBird 2024).

Carpococcyx renauldi remains locally common and regularly encountered from scattered localities in Thailand (e.g. Khao Yai NP, Phu Khieo WS, Phu Chong–Na Yoi NP; eBird 2024) and these probably represent the most secure populations of this species in the long-term.

Viet Nam historically probably hosted a large population but there are no traceable recent records (Timmins et al. in press, eBird 2024) and it is likely that the population here has been negligible this century.

In Cambodia, inhabits semi-evergreen and hill evergreen forest, mostly in the lowlands but recorded to 1,450 m in the Cardamom mountains (Eames et al. 2002, Goes 2013). In Lao PDR, records span a range of wooded habitats including semi-evergreen forests, open savanna-like dipterocarps forest, highly degraded semi-evergreen forests, regenerating forest with high bamboo abundance, and mountain foothill semi-evergreen forests, chiefly below 500 m. However, it has been recorded in semi-evergreen montane forests to over 1,000 m, exceptionally to 1,500 m, and locally in heavily degraded sections of Annamitic forest to at least 800 m (Timmins et al. in press and references therein). Combined these observations suggest a degree of habitat plasticity that that seems at odds with its localised distribution; in the north, for example, it appears to be confined to the Mekong low-lying hills in Vientiane and Xaignabouly provinces (Duckworth et al. 1999, Timmins et al. in press), and it appears to be entirely absent from Myanmar, the Thai-Malay Peninsula and far northern Thailand or Viet Nam, or China at all. Timmins et al. (in press) concluded that taking all observations into account, there are likely some 'quirks' of the species' ecological niche and 'although not an obligate ’lowland’ species, elevation and factors associated with elevation could well be important, and equally that moister microhabitats may also be significant'.
Like all ground-cuckoos, this is a strictly terrestrial species which renders it highly vulnerable to snaring. Its diet includes insects, small reptiles, small mammals, and small birds (Payne and de Juana 2020).

The species is heavily threatened by the rapid expansion of industrial drift-fence cable snaring, which has taken place since the late 1990s and early 2000s. Snaring is particularly affecting parts of the species' range in Viet Nam, Lao PDR and, to a slightly lesser extent, Cambodia (Timmins et al. in press). Especially lowland forests are regularly frequented by hunters (Gray et al. 2017). While the species is targeted directly by hunters for its meat, it is also taken as a 'bycatch' in snares set out for ungulates (Grey et al. 2018). In addition to the threat from snaring, the species may also have been affected by the reduction in large mammal and primate populations, as it apparently forages in areas disturbed by these animals (Timmins et al. in press). 

Although the habitat has been recorded in a range of forest types, including those that are heavily degraded, it is inevitable that the widespread loss of lowland forests in Indochina (often resulting in total clearance, or conversion to villages or plantations) has compounded population declines, even if it hasn't been the principal driver of them. Moreover, the extensive degradation of Lao PDR's forests (Grantham et al. 2020) has led to a considerable expansion of the road network (plus logging tracks) combined with increased motorcycle ownership, resulting in a massive rise in accessibility to hunters, as well as the more direct impacts of habitat conversion (Timmins et al. in press).

Timmins et al. (in press) considered snaring to be the 'major culprit' responsible for the rapid declines observed in this species in Lao PDR and Viet Nam (and it is reasonable to infer this has been a considerable driver in declines suspected in Cambodia also). Since the 1990s a rapid surge in what Timmins et al. (in press) call 'industrial level snaring', fuelled by the demand for bush meat by Vietnamese and Chinese markets (see also: Gray et al. 2017, 2018; Timmins 2018), is thought to have driven rapid population declines in this species.

Conservation Actions Underway
Occurs in numerous protected areas throughout its range (UNEP-WCMC and IUCN 2024, eBird 2024, Timmins et al. in press); while in some countries these are likely to be highly effective at safeguarding populations of this species from the effects of habitat loss and hunting (e.g. Thailand), in others they have largely been ineffective at doing so (Timmins et al. in press).

Conservation Actions Proposed
The most urgent priority for this species should be determining its status in recently unsurveyed national parks, particularly in Lao PDR (Timmins et al. in press). Areas where conservation measures could reasonably be implemented to protect the species should be prioritised for searches; deployment of autonomous recording units (ARUs) or camera traps are likely to prove the most effective survey methods for this highly elusive species, and reduce the risk of false negative results. Protecting this species will be difficult, but will require the adequate resourcing of enforcement as well as community engagement to protect remaining populations, all of which remain very vulnerable to extirpation by trapping.