African Golden Cat
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| ?African Golden Cat Conservation status: Vulnerable |
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| Profelis aurata Temminck, 1827 |
The African Golden Cat (Profelis aurata) is a medium-sized wild cat distributed over the rainforests of West and Central Africa. It is about 80 cm (31.5 inches) long, plus 30 cm (about a foot) tail.
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[edit] Physical attributes
The colour of the fur is variable. Most African Golden Cats are cinnamon or reddish brown, but there are also black or grey colour variants. The fur is spotted in one subspecies, but plain in the other (see below).
The body length usually varies in the range 61-100 cm (24-40 inches), the tail length varies in the range 16-46 cm (6.5-18 inches), and the shoulder height is about 38-55 cm (about 1-2 feet.) Male specimens weight in the range 11-14 Kg while the only one female specimen that was weighted had a weight of 6.2 Kg.
African Golden Cats live about 15 years in captivity.
[edit] Behavior
African Golden Cats are able to climb, but they primarily hunt on the ground. The prey includes rodents, birds and small monkeys. Due to its hidden living there is not much known about this cat.
[edit] Subspecies
- Profelis aurata aurata, Central Africa; plain colour except for spots on the underside.
- Profelis aurata celidogaster, West Africa; spots on the rump and the head; these spots are not black (like the spots of a leopard), but just a little darker than the surrounding fur.
The African Golden Cat is similar to the Asiatic Golden Cat, but studies indicate that the reason is convergent evolution.
[edit] References
- Cat Specialist Group (2002). Profelis aurata. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is vulnerable
