African Golden Cat (Caracal aurata) Classification

Understanding how carnivores coexist is central to ecological theory and conservation. Coexistence among sympatric species arises through niche partitioning across spatial, temporal, and trophic dimensions, yet these mechanisms remain poorly explored in Central African forests where leopards (Panthera pardus) and African golden cats (Caracal aurata) act as dominant and subordinate carnivores.

Using camera trap data and molecular scat analyses from two sites in northern Congo, we provided the first robust leopard density estimates for the region (i.e., semideciduous forests in Central Africa) and assessed coexistence mechanisms between the two felids across spatial, temporal, and trophic axes.

Spatially explicit capture–recapture models revealed comparable leopard densities across sites (5–6 individuals/100 km²), exceeding the regional average for Central and East Africa. Spatiotemporal occupancy models indicated spatial and temporal overlap, with no evidence of predictive or reactive temporal avoidance, though fine-scale co-occurrence declined near linear forest features (i.e., main rivers and roads) where both species’ marginal occupancy was highest.

Conversely, dietary analyses showed trophic segregation: leopards consumed medium- to large-sized ungulates (>20 kg), whereas golden cats relied on smaller prey (≤5 kg), identifying trophic partitioning as the main axis facilitating coexistence in this prey-rich system.

Maintaining prey diversity and minimizing disturbance are key to sustaining both species and their coexistence mechanisms. Such multidimensional approaches are essential to understand intraguild interactions and anticipate community shifts under increasing pressure.

Tossens, Sarah & Woodgate, Zoe & Doucet, Jean-Louis & Henschel, Philipp & Andre, Adrien & Michaux, Johan & Drouilly, Marine. (2026). Density and Coexistence Patterns of an Apex Carnivore (Panthera pardus) and a Mesocarnivore (Caracal aurata) in Northern Congo Forests. Animals. 16. 190. 10.3390/ani16020190.

African golden cats (Caracal aurata Temminck, 1827; hereafter, 'golden cat') occur in the forests and forest-savannah mosaics (hereafter, 'FSM') of West and Central Africa (Bahaa-el-din et al., 2015). Another medium-sized wild felid, the serval (Leptailurus serval Schreber, 1776), occurs in well-watered savannah and long-grass environments that are widespread across subSaharan Africa (Figure 1a; Thiel, 2019).

Golden cats and servals are closely related felids (Johnson et al., 2006), deriving from a common ancestor approximately 5.4 million years ago (O'Brien & Johnson, 2007). They are known to be sympatric only within a small portion of their collective geographic range, including in the Central African Republic (Hickisch & Aebischer, 2013), in the FSM of the western Congo Basin (Henschel et al., 2014) and in Uganda (Mills et al., 2019).

Simo, F.T.; Difouo, G.F.; Kekeunou, S.; Ingram, D.J.; Kirsten, I.; Olson, D.
African golden cat and serval in forest-savannah transitions in Cameroon
2021 African Journal of Ecology (59): 1063-1069

There are significant gaps in understanding the distribution of the African forest endemic,the African golden cat, (Caracal aurata).

Although Angola is included as a range country for the species, we know of no material record.

Here, we document the first record with physical evidence of the species, from a bushmeat vendor in Uige Province, northern Angola.

de Beer, E.; Nicolau, J.R.; Hunter, L.B.H.

First record with physical evidence of the African golden cat from Angola

2021 Cat News (73): 11-12

We report on the first population found in Tanzania of the Vulnerable African golden cat Caracal aurata, extending its documented range c. 200 km to the south and south-east. This is one of the least-known and truly forest-dependent felines in Africa, ranging across the Guinea–Congolian forest block.

We recorded the new population in Minziro Nature Forest Reserve, north-west Tanzania, during a 3-month survey in 2018. We deployed 70 camera traps on a regular grid and obtained 33 detection events of the golden cat at 26% of sites, with a minimum of 10 individuals across 257 km². We estimated occupancy and detection probability and modelled these in relation to the distance of sampling sites to the forest edge, which coincides with both the Reserve boundary and proximity to human settlements surrounding the Reserve.

Mean estimated occupancy was 0.41 ± SE 0.12 (mean detectability = 0.13 ± SE 0.05), with occupancy increasing significantly with distance from the forest edge. Detectability did not vary significantly with distance from the forest edge, but was higher for camera models that had a shorter trigger time.

Our findings add to the scant data available for this species. It appears threatened by human activity, which we recorded both outside and within the Reserve, and the presence of the species indicates Minziro Forest is an important site for its conservation.

Greco, Ilaria & Rovero, Francesco. (2020). The African golden cat Caracal aurata in Tanzania: first record and vulnerability assessment. Oryx. 55. 212-215. 10.1017/S003060532000040X.

Both leopard Panthera pardus pardus and African golden cat Caracal aurata occur throughout the Congo Basin and coastal forests of Central Africa. However, there remains a paucity of documented occurrences of these species within the region.

Here, we document both species in the Dja Faunal Reserve DFR, Cameroon from images captured in a camera trap survey. This represents the first confirmed occurrence of leopard for 18 years and the first documentation of African golden cat within the reserve.

Bruce, T.; Ndjassi, C.; Lebreton, M.; Wacher, T.; Fowler, A.; Mbobda, R.B.T.; Olson, D.
African golden cat and leopard persist in the Dja Faunal Reserve, Cameroon
2018  Cat News (68): 24-25

Highlights
• African golden cats are not as naturally rare as previously thought.
• Their population densities decrease with increasing human disturbance.
• The species is particularly susceptible to wire snares, used for bushmeat hunting.
• Managing timber concessions as part of conservation estates is crucial for wildlife.

Africa's equatorial forests are threatened by widespread deforestation and bushmeat hunting, with both threats spreading into formerly remote areas due to rapid human population growth and large-scale expansions of commercial resource extraction such as logging and mining, as well as forest clearing for agriculture. Many globally threatened species are endemic to these forests, but the potential effects of these threats are not well understood.

Using the case of the forest-dependent African golden cat, we assessed the potential effects of disturbance including logging and hunting on population density.

We applied spatially-explicit capture-recapture models to camera trap data to estimate density across a human land-use gradient at five sites in central Gabon. We found density was highest at a pristine, undisturbed site (16.23 [± 5.84 SE] individuals per 100 km²) and lowest at a village site with moderate levels of mostly subsistence bushmeat hunting (3.8 [± 2.23 SE] individuals per 100km²).

Logging concessions can support important densities of the species (10.18 [± 3.54 SE] and 12.84 [± 4.25 SE] individuals per 100 km²), with the higher estimate of the two for the concession certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) versus the non-certified concession.

While protected intact forests are the main strongholds for golden cats, well-managed logging concessions may also play an important role in the conservation of golden cats and other threatened species. 

Bahaa-el-din, L.; Sollmann, R.; Hunter, L.T.B.; Slotow, R.; MacDonald, D.W.; Henschel, P.
Effects of human land-use on Africa's only forest-dependent felid: the African golden cat Caracal aurata
2016  Biological Conservation (199): 1-9

1. The African golden cat Caracal aurata is endemic to tropical Africa. It is one of the world's least-studied felids and is considered rare in most of its geographic range. The status of the African golden cat in the wild has never been rigorously assessed, but the species is increasingly threatened by habitat degradation, loss and fragmentation, and by unsustainable hunting.

2. We describe the African golden cat and review its taxonomy, distribution, ecology, behaviour, threats and conservation status. The information presented here is based on the literature and on new data from the first two intensive field studies on the species (underway in Gabon and Uganda).

3. The golden cat is phenotypically variable. Within the two main colour morphs, golden/reddish-brown and grey, there is wide variation and intergradation. Both of these morphs occur throughout the species' range. Melanistic and chocolate brown morphs also occur but are uncommon.

4. Recent genetic analysis indicates that the golden cat is closely related to the caracal Caracal caracal, and it has, therefore, been changed from the genus Profelis to Caracal.

5. The golden cat is predominantly terrestrial and cathemeral. Its diet consists mainly of rodents and small ungulates.

6. Field studies in Gabon and Uganda have established that golden cats can be locally common. They are prone to capture by wire snares, however, and are absent in forests hunted at commercial scales.

7. Species-focused camera trap surveys are effective for collecting distribution, abundance, population structure, ecological and behavioural data on golden cats.

Bahaa-el-din, L.; Henschel, P.; MacDonald, D.W.; Mills, D.; Slotow, R.; Hunter, L.
The African golden cat Caracal aurata: Africa's least-known felid
2014  Mammal Review (45): 63-77