| Length | 75 - 140 cm (30 - 57") |
| Weight | 11 - 14 kg (24 - 30 lbs) |
| Height | Approx. 50 cm (20") |
| Range | Equatorial Africa |
| Habitat | Moist forest, woodlands |
| Reproduction | 1 - 3 kittens born after 75 - 78 day gestation. Sexually mature at 22 - 24 months |
| Colouring | Variable. Chestnut through fawn to silver, belly and inner sides spotted, rest of body can vary from no spotting to completely spotted |
African golden cats are shy, nocturnal dwellers of the forests of equatorial Africa. Because of this, very little is known of their natural history.
These are solidly built cats that are found in two different colour phases, originally thought to be two separate species: red or grey. Fur colour varies from chestnut through fawn to silver and slate grey. The cheeks, chin, and underparts are whitish, and the belly and inner sides of the limbs can have variable amounts of dark spotting. There are four different coat patterns found throughout the golden cat’s range: spotted all over; spots on the back and neck indistinct; no pattern except on flanks; and no pattern except on belly. Their head is relatively small with a fairly large muzzle, irises of green to golden brown, and ears that are rounded with black backsides. The tail is usually no more than 50% of the head and body length, and has a dark line on the upper side, sometimes with distinct rings. Melanistic individuals are known to occur.
They have been seen resting in the lower branches of trees during the day and are thus thought to be partially arboreal. However, the short tail is difficult to explain in this regard since most arboreal cats have a long tail that they use as a counterbalance when climbing. In captivity, they are known to be active and able climbers and unlike more terrestrial cats, they do not bury their dung. Mostly nocturnal and crepuscular in activity, they have occasionally been sighted during the day.
Prey is thought to be taken by stalking and rushing, mainly at ground level. Scat analysis in Zaire found 51% rodents and 20% ungulates, such as small deer. Their diet includes small to mid-sized mammals such as rodents, monkeys, duiker, hyrax and a variety of birds. They may also scavenge other predators’ kills. Sharing much of their range with the leopard Panthera pardus, the golden cat takes smaller prey than its much larger cousin.
African golden cats are usually found in high rainforests, but have been found to occasionally inhabit drier woodlands as long as they are near water. They are also common at high altitudes up to 3,600 metres in mountainous areas where they live in alpine moorland, subalpine and bamboo forests. Golden cats apparently adapt well to logged areas, as destruction of the canopy favors the dense secondary undergrowth with which they are often associated. Edge environments generally contain high rodent densities, and thus may be preferred. However, primary forest with minimal human disturbance is their optimal habitat.
No dens with kittens have been described from the wild and very few have been raised in captivity. A litter of one to three, usually one or two, kittens is born in a hollow tree den, rocky crevice, or thick vegetation after about 78 days. Kittens weigh 180 - 235 grams at birth and sometimes have small ear tufts. They grow fairly rapidly with their eyes opening in six days, and are weaned between three and four months, at which time they weigh 2.5 - 3 kg. They reach sexual maturity between 22 - 24 months of age, and have lived up to 12 years in captivity.
In parts of central and west Africa, African golden cats rank highly in local religious beliefs. Cameroon pygmy tribesmen value their tail as a talisman to protect them when they are hunting elephants. The skin is traditionally incorporated into tribal robes, and so highly valued locally that it is not usually traded. It is partly due to these beliefs, and partly due to the near impossibility of seeing these cats before being seen by them, that these cats remain virtually unknown. They are known locally as the ‘leopard's brother’ because the two cats are often found in the same area. When asked about the cat by researchers, natives are reluctant to talk about it or even to acknowledge that they exist.
They may be less rare than is generally thought due to the density of their habitat. The moist forests of west Africa have been heavily damaged by human activity such as logging and hunting of the larger animals. The eradication of the leopard from Bwindi National Park in Uganda has led to the African golden cat being the dominant carnivore in the area. The bush meat trade, which figures largely in the region’s economy, may lead to local depletion of small antelope prey, and the cats are occasionally caught in traps for other animals. Hunting is prohibited in only 12 of 26 range countries. As their present status is unknown, they are listed on Appendix II of CITES.
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