Details
Profelis aurata
African golden cat is an elusive medium-sized cat of Central and West African forests. Deforestation and hunting pressure fragment the forest habitat on which it depends.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
It lives in lowland rainforest, montane forest, and moist secondary forest. Main habitat types in this guide are forest.
Typical length 61-101 cm, weight 5.5 kg-16 kg. Coat color ranges from reddish to gray, sometimes with faint spots or markings.
It is nocturnal and usually solitary. It moves alone through dense forest and is often recorded by camera traps rather than direct sightings.
It is carnivorous. Rodents, birds, small antelopes, and monkeys may be hunted in the forest understory.
Breeding details are poorly known, but females rear kittens in concealed forest shelters.
Habitat loss and human pressure make conservation attention important. Deforestation and hunting pressure fragment the forest habitat on which it depends.
