The African Golden Cat

Description: About twice the size of a domestic cat, the African golden cat is very variable in coloration. There are two colour phases: chestnut-red/fawn and silvery/dark slate-grey, of which the grey phase is often called the silver cat. Markings of both phases are similar and there are many intermediate forms. Both red and grey phases occur in the same areas and they may be spotted or plain. A few melanistic or all black specimens have been recorded.
The fur displays a unique feature; the hair on the back of the neck, from just forward of the shoulders to the crown, is directed forwards. However, this is not present in every individual.
The backs of the small, rounded ears are blackish with a central pale area. A dark central line runs along the dorsal surface of the tail which has a few dark bands. Small white patches are visible above their eyes, especially at the inner corners. The lower parts of their cheeks are also white as are their chins and throats. Otherwise there are no obvious facial markings.
African golden cats are very sturdy, powerful animals, with fairly long legs and relatively large paws. Apparently small, the head is very rounded. Their skulls exhibit various diagnostic features, the eye sockets or orbits are nearly closed at the back, and they have very small anterior upper premolars.
The African golden cat has long been regarded as closely related to the Asian or Temminck’s golden cat, but a recent review of cat taxonomy by Wozencraft (1993) separates the two into different genera.

Two subspecies are described:

F. (P.) a. aurata Congo to Uganda
F. (P.) a. celidogaster West Africa

Each of the subspecies has two different characteristic coat patterns. P. a. celidogaster: Type 1 is spotted all over; Type 2 has indistinct spots on the back and neck, with a few large, clear flank spots. P. a. aurata: Type 1 has no pattern on the neck and back, but has numerous small spots on the lower flanks; Type 2 has virtually no pattern except on the belly.

Principal dimensions:

Overall Males Females :
Head and Body lengths (cm) 61-102 74 71
Height at Shoulder (cm) 40-50
Tail lengths (cm) 16-46 31 30
Weights (Kg) 3.5-18 11-14 6.2*
* This figure is the only recorded weight of a female

Distribution and Habitats:
African golden cats are found in central Africa up to 3,600 metres in high deciduous rain forest, alpine moorland, and along water courses extending into the drier more open areas.
They occur from Senegal to the Ivory Coast and Gabon, and south to northern Angola, and through the north east Congo basin through Ruwenzori to Uganda and Kenya (the Mau forest).
They seem to prefer moist forest with dense growth.
The map shows the present distribution of African Golden Cats in grey.
The map is based on information in the Wild Cats Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan published by the IUCN/SSC Cat Speialist Group in 1996.

Diet:
African golden cats are known to prey on poultry, rodents and small to medium sized forest ungulates as well as hyraxes, monkeys and birds.

Behaviour:
Although African golden cats are said to be solitary, Tonkin and Kohler (1978) reported that their adult male behaved like a good father. This may indicate that a couple with offspring stay together. African golden cats have extensive vocal repertoires which could be evidence for some social behaviour.
They are mostly active at night or dawn and dusk and are reported to rest in the lower branches of trees in the day. They are highly secretive and have only rarely been observed in the wild.

Reproduction:
One, two or possibly three kittens are born after a gestation period of approximately 75 to 78 days. Tonkin and Kohler’s (1978) male golden kitten weighed 235 grammes at birth, and their female 195 grammes. The kittens developed rapidly; their eyes were open by six days and after ten days they started walking. The male grew much faster than the female. After the 38th day the kittens began to eat meat. These cats can live for about 15 years in captivity.

Conservation Status:
Remarkably little is known about the population numbers of the African golden cats. It is certain however that they will be substantially affected by the extensive habitat destruction occurring all over Africa. They are not regarded as being sufficiently threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) to warrant being classified as rare or endangered.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has strictly regulated all international commerce in golden cat products by listing them in Appendix II (Conservation and Legal Status of Wild Cats. Cat News 12, 1990, p. 26).
Legal protection varies; twelve countries have banned hunting and a further three exercise controls. Even where this is not the case there appears to be little hunting of this cat.

MORE INFO

Body Length(mm) -720-980

Weight (kg) - 11-14 (male)

Litter Size - 1-2 average

Life Span - no data

Status - Least Concern

P.a.celidogaster - Central Africa

P.a.aurata - West Africa

Asian Golden Cat

The African Golden Cat is a medium sized cat and can grow to 90cm in body length and weigh up to 18kg. Although its name implies a golden coloured coat the golden cat is polymorphic - its base coat coloration varies extensively depending on its location -ranging from a golden/reddish brown to slate/silver grey. A report of a golden cat in captivity even suggest that the base colour of the fur can change from one colour phase to the other over a period of time depending on the age of the cat and various environmental stimuli. The under sides of the chin, chest and abdomen are usually lighter and in some cases almost pure white - in some individuals the head and body is spotted. Its long tail, which measures up to 40cm, is marked with dark line along the top and ends in a brown or black tip. The head caries distinctive light markings around the eyes and above the mouth - the small ears are dark coloured on the rear face.
Studies made in the late sixties found that although both red/brown and grey/silver phases were found equally in most parts of the range, distinct variations in coat markings, such as overall spotting or spotting on the back, were found to be restricted to West African locations. Golden cats found east of the range however, appeared more uniform in colour, carrying only spotted markings on the sides or belly. It was suggested that the two groups represent separate subspecies - Profelis aurata celidogaster found in West African regions and Profelis aurata aurata from Central and East African locations. As many as 4% of golden cats studied were found to be melanistic and were located throughout the range.

The primary habitat of the golden cat appears to be the Tropical Rain Forest belt which traverses the African equator, however penetration into the adjoining tropical Dry Forests and Savannah scrub is also in evidence. To the east of its range in Uganda the golden cat has been known to inhabit regions up to 3500 meters and be present as far east as the Mau Escarpment in western Kenya. Although the golden cat is said to prefer virgin forest, reports from around the Bwindi Mountain Gorilla National Park in South West Uganda suggest that the cat is equally at home in secondary forest areas where logging activities had led to an initial decline in many of the herbivore prey species and an increase in human activity.

Primarily due to its dense rain forest habitat very little is known of the lifestyle and biology of the golden cat. Most reports suggest that golden cat is a solitary and crepuscular hunter but sightings of a golden cat stalking the mainly diurnal black-fronted duika in South West Uganda suggest that the cat may well be active during daylight hours in parts of its range. Apart from duika and other small antelope it is thought that the main part of the golden cats diet is made up of rodents, tree hyraxes and birds. There are conflicting reports of the golden cat foraging close to human habitation - sources around the Bwindi National Park in Uganda have confirmed that the preying on domestic poultry and livestock is common, whilst research in the Tai National Park in the Ivory Coast suggest that domestic predation is a rare occurrence. Small monkeys are also known to be taken by the cat which may suggest that although thought of as mainly terrestrial, the golden cat is also active in the lower branches of the forest canopy and can climb well.

The little that is known of the golden cats biology and reproduction is gained from captive bred animals - the litter size is small, usually consisting of 1-2 young and are born after a gestation period of approximately 75 days. The kittens have a daily weight gain of approximately 30g per day and are weaned at about 14 weeks - the golden cat reaches maturity at about 18 months of age.

Although local tribes’ people hunt the fur and especially the tail of the African golden cat for ceremonial use, hunting does not provide a major threat to the golden cat. However through a gradual increases in the timber trade, loss of the Tropical Rain Forest habitat and subsequent decline in prey species is a threat in many parts of the cats range.

The African golden cat has an IUCN status of Insufficiently Known and due to its relatively restricted natural habitat must be considered at risk until more data is available as to its true population and distribution.

BY: Andrew Garman

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Description and Behavior
The African golden cat is a medium-sized cat. Adult males weigh 11-14 kg (Van Mensch and Van Bree 1969, S. Lahm in litt. 1993). The only recorded weight of a wild female is 6.2 kg (Van Mensch and Van Bree 1969), but this was probably an immature animal. The African golden cat has both a reddish-brown and greyish color form, and its coat can be spotted or plain. Pocock (1907a) described an animal in the London Zoo whose color changed entirely from rufous to grey in four months. Van Mensch and Van Bree (1969) examined 186 pelts from various localities and found that 50% were of the red phase and 46% of the greyish phase, with 4% being totally black. While color phase appears variable across its range, they found that specimens taken from West Africa tended to be more spotted than those from East-Central Africa, with the Zaļre River forming an approximate boundary. The white underbelly is consistently marked with large black spots. Despite a striking external similarity to the Asian golden cat, many authorities believe that the two species are not closely related (Van Mensch and Van Bree 1969, Hemmer 1978a, Wozencraft 1993; but see Figure 3 under Taxonomy). The similarity of the golden cats may have resulted from convergent evolution in moist forest habitat, as there has been no direct forest connection between Africa and Asia for 20 million years (Groves 1982), but the relationship still deserves closer examination.

The African golden cat has never been studied and little is known of its behavior. It is reported to be primarily nocturnal and to rest in trees during the day (Rosevear 1974, Guggisberg 1975, Kingdon 1977, Happold 1987). Diurnal activity has also been noted (Kingdon 1977). It may hunt in trees to some extent (Basilio 1962, Kingdon 1977), but probably catches most of its prey on the ground (J. Hart and M. Katembo in prep.). Hart and Katembo analyzed 60 golden cat scats from Zaļre’s Ituri forest, and found that 51% contained rodents and 20% ungulates. The rodents were mostly small species weighing less than 300 g. From carcass collections, they also note that scavenged eagle kills and predation on fallen, injured primates may be an important component of rainforest felid diets.

Hart and Katembo’s data serve to balance anecdotal reports that golden cats prey mainly on small to mid-sized mammals, including tree hyraxes, the larger rodents (Basilio 1962, Brooks 1962, Rahm and Christiaensen 1963), and smaller forest antelopes (Van Saceghem 1942, Carpaneto and Germi 1989). On the contrary, they found small rodents to be more important. Other data on diet are patchy. For example, the stomach of one golden cat from Senegal contained the remains of a bird (Gaillard 1969), and Kingdon (1977) found the remains of red duikers, monkeys, rodents and birds in scats examined from Uganda’s Bwindi National Park. M. Agnanga (in litt. 1993) includes fish in the diet. Although there have been reports of predation on domestic animals, including chickens, goats and sheep (Gyldenstolpe 1928, Bourdelle and Babault 1931, Kingdon 1977), such predation appears to be rather rare (E. Abe, M. Agnanga, B. Hoppe-Dominik, S. Lahm in litt. 1993).

Litter size:
(W): According to the Mbuti Pygmies of north-eastern Zaļre, one (Carpaneto and Germi 1989). J. Hart and M. Katembo (in prep.) also found one nursing kitten in a fallen, hollow log No other information.

Habitat and Distribution
The primary habitat of the African golden cat is the moist forest zone of Equatorial Africa, including mangrove and alpine bamboo forests. Golden cats can penetrate savannah grasslands along belts of riverine forest (Van Mensch and Van Bree 1969), and so their distribution probably extends beyond the moist forest zone. As an extreme example, the species was recorded from Nioro du Sahel, Mali, in relatively arid savannah woodland (Bigourdan and Prunier 1937) -- although possibly in error (Van Mensch and Van Bree 1969).

Golden cats apparently adapt well to logged areas, as destruction of the canopy favors the dense secondary undergrowth with which they are often associated (Kingdon 1977, Anstey 1991, S. Lahm in litt. 1993). Edge environments generally contain higher rodent densities, and may thus be preferred (J. Hart in litt. 1994). However, primary forest with minimal human disturbance is the golden cat’s fundamental habitat -- M. Agnanga (in litt. 1993) reports that it is well known in northern Congo (among the most sparsely populated regions in tropical Africa), but not in the south, where the forests are semi-deciduous and partially logged (Sayer et al. 1992). Similarly, B. Hoppe-Dominik (in litt. 1993) describes the species as common in the Ivory Coast’s Tai National Park (rainforest), but very rare in Comoe National Park (savanna woodland).

The golden cat has been recorded at elevations up to 3,600 m in Uganda (Guggisberg 1975), and in Kenya’s Aberdare mountains (Maberly 1966, Hardy 1979, Watson 1980). Figure 2, based on van Mensch and van Bree (1969), shows the tropical rainforest of the Zaļre River basin as solid lines. Probable distribution elsewhere, including patches of wet montane forest and lowland humid forest interspersed with savanna grasslands (former rainforest: Collins 1990), is shown as dashed lines.

Population Status
Global: Category 2
Regiona: Category 1
IUCN: Insufficiently Known

While the species is tied to moist forest habitats and is thus naturally rare, it is difficult to evaluate its conservation status due to lack of information on its biology and ecology. The moist forests of West Africa have been heavily degraded and remaining intact stands are patchily distributed, while those of the Zaļre basin in Zaļre, Congo and Gabon are relatively pristine and large tracts of primary forest remain (Myers 1989, Collins 1990, Sayer et al. 1992). However, a large portion of the latter is inland swamp forest (Sayer et al. 1992), a habitat type in which the golden cat has not yet been recorded (S. Lahm in litt. 1993).

Small pieces of golden cat skin have totemic value "for wrapping things up in" (Van Mensch and Van Bree 1969, E. Gadsby in litt. 1991). Because of taboos, people may be reluctant to discuss the animal directly (Sanderson 1940).

Principal Threats
Savannization in West Africa has probably led to population declines and fragmentation, unless there is migration along riverine corridors. The bush meat trade, which figures largely in the region’s economy, may lead to local depletion of small antelope prey. There appears to be little hunting of golden cats (E. Gadsby in litt. 1991; S. Lahm, M. Agnanga in litt. 1993).

IUCN - The World Conservation Union