Conservation of African golden cat
Project Animal(s) : African golden cat (Caracal aurata)
Project Category : Mammals
Project Region : Africa
Project Type : Conservation
Project URL : http://www.catsg.org/index.php?id=106
Project is timebound? : No
The African golden cat is included in Appendix II of CITES. It is only fully protected over part of its range. Hunting is prohibited in Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Congo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Democratic Republic of Congo. Hunting is regulated in Gabon, Liberia and Togo. The African golden cat is not legally protected in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda and domestic trade is not controlled in Congo and Sierra Leone. No information is available from Burundi and Guinea.
How much the African golden cat can adapt to changing habitat conditions and what current levels of threat are in place cannot be answered due to a lack of information.
There is an urgent need for further research on the African golden cat’s distribution, density in various habitats and general status. More information about its ecology, demography and behaviour are also very important in order to get a detailed understanding about the essential characteristics and needs of this species. This is fundamental for its status evaluation and for planning and implementing appropriate conservation measures. Two intensive studies are currently underway in Uganda and Gabon. They aim to fill these gaps and deliver important information on its conservation biology, including abundance, behavioural ecology and impacts of hunting and logging.
Project Agency : Cat Specialist Group
Project Agency Contact : http://www.catsg.org/index.php?id=1
Additional Information :
http://www.catsg.org/index.php?id=13