Profelis aurataAfrican golden cat

Ge­o­graphic Range

The ge­o­graphic range of African golden cats, Pro­fe­lis au­rata, spans across equa­to­r­ial Africa. They in­habit areas rang­ing from the Sa­vanna wood­lands of west­ern Sierra Leone to the pri­mary forested re­gions of cen­tral Africa and as far East as Kenya. The Congo River pro­vides a nat­ural ge­o­graphic bar­rier di­vid­ing the two sub­species. ("Cat Sur­vival Trust", 2002; Alder­ton, 1993; Hall-Mar­tin and Bosman, 1998; "Sta­tus Sur­vey and Con­ser­va­tion Ac­tion Plan: Wild Cats", 1996; Ray and Sun­quist, 2001; Sleeper, 1995; Sog­bo­hos­sou, et al., 2010)

Habi­tat

Al­though Africa golden cats can be found in a va­ri­ety of habi­tats, they are pre­dom­i­nantly found in densely forested re­gions. They ad­just well to areas af­fected by log­ging be­cause of the re­gion's dense sec­ondary un­der­growth, which is ad­van­ta­geous for cam­ou­flaged hunt­ing. Fringe en­vi­ron­ments, such as wa­ter­ways lead­ing into sa­van­nah wood­lands, are some­times pre­ferred habi­tat zones due to their dense pop­u­la­tions of ro­dents. Mem­bers of this species have been recorded at el­e­va­tions up to 3600 m in Uganda and the Ab­er­dare Moun­tains of Kenya. Al­though ev­i­dence is in­con­clu­sive, African golden cats may also in­habit wet mon­tane for­est and low­land humid forests. ("Cat Sur­vival Trust", 2002; Alder­ton, 1993; Hall-Mar­tin and Bosman, 1998; "Sta­tus Sur­vey and Con­ser­va­tion Ac­tion Plan: Wild Cats", 1996; Sleeper, 1995)

  • Range elevation
    3600 (high) m
    11811.02 (high) ft

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

African golden cats are ro­bust an­i­mals with short, stocky limbs adept for ar­bo­real hunt­ing. They have a semi-com­plete pos­tor­bital clo­sure and small an­te­rior pre­mo­lars. African golden cats range from 3 to 18 kg in weight. Males often weigh be­tween 11 and 14 kg. Adults range from 61 to 102 cm in length ex­clud­ing the tail. Males tend to be longer, av­er­ag­ing 74 cm, whereas fe­males av­er­age around 71 cm in length. Their tail ranges from 16 to 46 cm in length, with males av­er­ag­ing 31 cm and fe­males 30 cm. The height of African golden cats from their shoul­der to the ground ranges be­tween 40 and 50 cm. ("Cat Sur­vival Trust", 2002; Alder­ton, 1993; Hall-Mar­tin and Bosman, 1998; "Sta­tus Sur­vey and Con­ser­va­tion Ac­tion Plan: Wild Cats", 1996; Ray and Sun­quist, 2001; Sleeper, 1995)

The col­oration of African golden cats can vary dra­mat­i­cally, and their coats range from bright or­ange to red­dish-brown. Some cats gray­ish in color have also been ob­served. Some in­di­vid­u­als have spots on their coat. There are also some melanis­tic and all-black in­di­vid­u­als. The out­sides of their ears are gen­er­ally dark in color. White spots are com­mon above the eyes. The neck and throat can be lighter in color and are some­times white. The tail has a dark tip and a white line on the dor­sal side usu­ally sur­rounded by dark spots. The coat of one in­di­vid­ual in the Lon­don Zoo changed from brown­ish red to gray in 4 months, in­di­cat­ing that the coat of African golden cats may be vari­able through­out their life­time. ("Cat Sur­vival Trust", 2002; Alder­ton, 1993; Hall-Mar­tin and Bosman, 1998; "Sta­tus Sur­vey and Con­ser­va­tion Ac­tion Plan: Wild Cats", 1996; Ray and Sun­quist, 2001; Sleeper, 1995)

There are two sub­species of African golden cats, and they are slightly dif­fer­ent in ap­pear­ance. Mem­bers of the sub­spe­ices Pro­fe­lis au­rata celi­do­gaster are found in the Guinean forested zone and are ei­ther en­tirely spot­ted, or spot­ted on the neck with large spots on the flanks. Mem­bers of the sub­spe­ices Pro­fe­lis au­rata au­rata are found east of the Congo River and spot­ted on the belly or spot­ted on the lower flanks. In a 'hy­brid' zone be­tween Cameroon and Gabon, both spot­ted and unspot­ted in­di­vid­u­als can be found. ("Cat Sur­vival Trust", 2002; Alder­ton, 1993; Hall-Mar­tin and Bosman, 1998)

  • Sexual Dimorphism
  • male larger
  • Range mass
    3.5 to 18 kg
    7.71 to 39.65 lb
  • Range length
    61 to 101.5 cm
    24.02 to 39.96 in

Re­pro­duc­tion

The mat­ing sys­tems of African golden cats are cur­rently un­known. There has only been a sin­gle recorded view­ing of two wild in­di­vid­u­als trav­el­ing to­gether. While this ev­i­dence may sug­gest monog­a­mous pair bond­ing, more ev­i­dence is re­quired to fully un­der­stand their mat­ing sys­tems. (Hall-Mar­tin and Bosman, 1998)

All cur­rent in­for­ma­tion re­gard­ing the breed­ing of African golden cats is from cap­tive an­i­mals. Lit­ters vary from 1 to 2 cubs, and oc­ca­sion­ally in­clude 3 cubs. Ges­ta­tion lasts 75 to 78 days. At birth, cubs weigh 195 to 235 g. They are born blind, and they open their eyes in about 1 week. At around 2 weeks in age, they dis­play cu­rios­ity of their sur­round­ings and are able to climb. Wean­ing be­gins around 6 weeks of age. Males reach sex­ual ma­tu­rity at 6 months of age, while fe­males reach sex­ual ma­tu­rity at 11 months. (Alder­ton, 1993)

  • Key Reproductive Features
  • gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
  • sexual
  • Range number of offspring
    1 to 3
  • Average number of offspring
    1 to 2
  • Average number of offspring
    2
    AnAge
  • Range gestation period
    75 to 78 days
  • Average weaning age
    6 weeks
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
    11 months
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
    18 months

Lit­tle in­for­ma­tion is known re­gard­ing parental in­vest­ment of African golden cats, al­though moth­ers pro­vide care to their young for a pe­riod of time. Cubs likely do not travel until sex­ual ma­tu­rity. In cap­tiv­ity, fe­male African golden cats were ob­served mov­ing 16-day-old cubs to a brighter spot near the glass, al­though cubs were able to move in and out of the nest of their own vo­li­tion. After this move, the cats sun­bathed dur­ing the day and re­turned to the nest at night. On one oc­ca­sion, a young African golden cat was found in a hol­lowed out log that had fallen. This could in­di­cate that kit­tens hide in holes lo­cated in trees in order to avoid preda­tors. ("Cat Sur­vival Trust", 2002; Hall-Mar­tin and Bosman, 1998; Ley­hausen, 1979; Tonkin and Kohler, 1978)

  • Parental Investment
  • pre-hatching/birth
    • provisioning
      • female
    • protecting
      • female
  • pre-weaning/fledging
    • provisioning
      • female
    • protecting
      • female

Lifes­pan/Longevity

On av­er­age African golden cats live around 15 years in cap­tiv­ity. Their lifes­pan in the wild is cur­rently un­known. ("Cat Sur­vival Trust", 2002)

  • Average lifespan
    Status: captivity
    15 years
  • Range lifespan
    Status: captivity
    21 (high) years
    AnAge

Be­hav­ior

African golden cats are elu­sive an­i­mals and have proven very dif­fi­cult to study. They are soli­tary an­i­mals. On one oc­ca­sion, how­ever, two mem­bers of the species were ob­served trav­el­ing to­gether, in­di­cat­ing ei­ther monog­a­mous sex­ual pair­ing or a young fam­ily group. Hunt­ing strate­gies of African golden cats have also been de­bated. Many re­searchers be­lieve that African golden cats are pri­mar­ily noc­tur­nal hunters, al­though they have been ob­served hunt­ing at both dawn and dusk and in some cases dur­ing the day. Due to their rel­a­tive shy­ness around hu­mans, lit­tle re­search has been con­ducted on African golden cats in the wild. ("Cat Sur­vival Trust", 2002; Alder­ton, 1993; Hall-Mar­tin and Bosman, 1998; "Sta­tus Sur­vey and Con­ser­va­tion Ac­tion Plan: Wild Cats", 1996)

Home Range

Lit­tle in­for­ma­tion is cur­rently known re­gard­ing the home range and ter­ri­tory of African golden cats.

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

African golden cats have been ob­served in cap­tiv­ity demon­strat­ing threat­en­ing and ag­gres­sive be­hav­iors. When threat­ened they keep their back slightly arched, while the hair on the back and tail are per­pen­dic­u­lar. The head is kept lower than the body and is usu­ally an­gled to one side. The tail curves to form a hook shape; it can whip sharply then re­turn to orig­i­nal form. When African golden cats at­tack, they travel at a ro­bust pace. They do not demon­strate the ag­i­tated cir­cling be­hav­ior of Cara­cal, Puma, or Neo­fe­lis. ("Sta­tus Sur­vey and Con­ser­va­tion Ac­tion Plan: Wild Cats", 1996; Ley­hausen, 1979)

Food Habits

African golden cats are car­niv­o­rous and prey on mid-sized mam­mals such as tree hyraxes, red duik­ers, smaller for­est an­telopes, mon­keys, birds and in some cases fish. Based on scat, small species of ro­dents weight­ing less than 300 g are typ­i­cally hunted. They have been recorded hunt­ing species of mon­keys, how­ever it is spec­u­lated that they may only prey on fallen or in­jured mon­keys. The short, stocky limbs of African golden cats offer an ad­van­tage for ar­bo­real hunt­ing, al­though this has been ob­served on few oc­ca­sions. African golden cats often re­move the feath­ers from bird prey, and the amount of 'pluck­ing' is com­pa­ra­ble to that of African lynx. ("Cat Sur­vival Trust", 2002; Alder­ton, 1993; Hall-Mar­tin and Bosman, 1998; "Sta­tus Sur­vey and Con­ser­va­tion Ac­tion Plan: Wild Cats", 1996; Ley­hausen, 1979; Ray and Sun­quist, 2001)

  • Animal Foods
  • birds
  • mammals
  • fish
  • carrion

Pre­da­tion

African golden cats are preyed upon by leop­ards, and they tend to avoid in­hab­it­ing areas with pop­u­la­tions of leop­ards. (Sog­bo­hos­sou, et al., 2010)

Ecosys­tem Roles

African golden cats are im­por­tant preda­tors in the for­est, prey­ing on a va­ri­ety of an­i­mals. They also serve as prey to leop­ards.

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

Al­though hunt­ing is pro­hib­ited in sev­eral coun­tries, they are hunted for their meat and pelts. Pelts may be used for cir­cum­ci­sion prac­tices or to wrap valu­ables. Some pygmy cul­tures place value on the tail of African golden cats, which is used to in­di­cate a suc­cess­ful hunter. (Alder­ton, 1993; Sog­bo­hos­sou, et al., 2010)

  • Positive Impacts
  • food
  • body parts are source of valuable material

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

African golden cats have been cited as a 'poul­try' pest, feed­ing on do­mes­tic an­i­mals such as chick­ens, goats and sheep. ("Cat Sur­vival Trust", 2002; Alder­ton, 1993; "Sta­tus Sur­vey and Con­ser­va­tion Ac­tion Plan: Wild Cats", 1996)

  • Negative Impacts
  • crop pest

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

African golden cats are clas­si­fied as near threat­ened by the IUCN. Re­cent re­ports in­di­cate that pop­u­la­tions of African golden cats are de­creas­ing due in large part to major de­for­esta­tion. Hunt­ing also plays a minor role in the de­ple­tion of the species. Hunt­ing has been re­stricted in An­gola, Benin, Burk­ina Faso, Congo, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Kenya, Liberia, Nige­ria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and the De­mo­c­ra­tic Re­pub­lic of Congo. ("Sta­tus Sur­vey and Con­ser­va­tion Ac­tion Plan: Wild Cats", 1996; Sog­bo­hos­sou, et al., 2010)

Other Com­ments

It was pre­vi­ously thought that African golden cats and Asian golden cats (Pro­fe­lis tem­mincki) were closely re­lated. Re­cent ev­i­dence has placed them in dif­fer­ent gen­era. Mol­e­c­u­lar work has shown that African golden cats could also be placed in the gen­era Cara­cal, along with Cara­cal cara­cal. ("Cat Sur­vival Trust", 2002; Hall-Mar­tin and Bosman, 1998; "Sta­tus Sur­vey and Con­ser­va­tion Ac­tion Plan: Wild Cats", 1996)

Con­trib­u­tors

Sam Bea­dle (au­thor), Uni­ver­sity of Ore­gon, Stephen Frost (ed­i­tor), Uni­ver­sity of Ore­gon, Gail Mc­Cormick (ed­i­tor), An­i­mal Di­ver­sity Web Staff.

Glossary

Ethiopian

living in sub-Saharan Africa (south of 30 degrees north) and Madagascar.

World Map

acoustic

uses sound to communicate

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

carnivore

an animal that mainly eats meat

carrion

flesh of dead animals.

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

crepuscular

active at dawn and dusk

endothermic

animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.

food

A substance that provides both nutrients and energy to a living thing.

forest

forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

nocturnal

active during the night

piscivore

an animal that mainly eats fish

rainforest

rainforests, both temperate and tropical, are dominated by trees often forming a closed canopy with little light reaching the ground. Epiphytes and climbing plants are also abundant. Precipitation is typically not limiting, but may be somewhat seasonal.

scavenger

an animal that mainly eats dead animals

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

solitary

lives alone

tactile

uses touch to communicate

terrestrial

Living on the ground.

tropical

the region of the earth that surrounds the equator, from 23.5 degrees north to 23.5 degrees south.

tropical savanna and grassland

A terrestrial biome. Savannas are grasslands with scattered individual trees that do not form a closed canopy. Extensive savannas are found in parts of subtropical and tropical Africa and South America, and in Australia.

savanna

A grassland with scattered trees or scattered clumps of trees, a type of community intermediate between grassland and forest. See also Tropical savanna and grassland biome.

temperate grassland

A terrestrial biome found in temperate latitudes (>23.5° N or S latitude). Vegetation is made up mostly of grasses, the height and species diversity of which depend largely on the amount of moisture available. Fire and grazing are important in the long-term maintenance of grasslands.

visual

uses sight to communicate

Ref­er­ences

In­ter­na­tional Union for Con­ser­va­tion of Na­ture and Nat­ural Re­sources. 1996. Sta­tus Sur­vey and Con­ser­va­tion Ac­tion Plan: Wild Cats. Switzer­land: IUCN.

2002. "Cat Sur­vival Trust" (On-line). Ac­cessed No­vem­ber 09, 2010 at http://​www.​catsurvivaltrust.​org/​.

Alder­ton, D. 1993. Wild Cats of the World. New York: Facts on File.

Hall-Mar­tin, A., P. Bosman. 1998. Cats of Africa. Wash­ing­ton D.C.: Smith­son­ian In­sti­tu­tion Press.

Ley­hausen, P. 1979. Cat Be­hav­ior: The Preda­tory and So­cial Be­hav­ior of Do­mes­tic and Wild Cats. New York: Gar­land Pub­lish­ing.

Ray, J., M. Sun­quist. 2001. Trophic Re­la­tions in a Com­mu­nity of African Rain­for­est Car­ni­vores. Oe­colo­gia, 127: 395-408. Ac­cessed Oc­to­ber 14, 2010 at http://​www.​jstor.​org/​stable/​4222944.

Sleeper, B. 1995. Wild Cats of the World. New York: Crown Pub­lisher.

Sog­bo­hos­sou, E., C. Bre­it­en­moser-Wursten, P. Hen­schel. 2010. "IUCN Red List of Threat­ened Species" (On-line). Ac­cessed Oc­to­ber 12, 2010 at http://​www.​iucnredlist.​org/​apps/​redlist/​details/​18306/​0.

Tonkin, B., E. Kohler. 1978. Breed­ing of the African golden cat, Felis (Pro­fe­lis) au­rata, in cap­tiv­ity. In­ter­na­tional Zoo Year­book, 18: 145-150.