Asiatic Golden Cat
The
Asiatic Golden Cat (
Catopuma temminckii, or
Profelis temminckii, or
Felis temminckii), also called
Temminck's Golden Cat, is a medium-sized wild
cat (length 90 cm, plus 50 cm tail). While the fur is mostly foxy red or golden brown, black or grey colour variants may also be found. Normally the fur is plain except for some hardly visible spots on the underside; however, in
China there is a colour variant with
leopard-like spots, which resembles a
Leopard Cat. This spotted fur is a
recessive characteristic, i.e. when a spotted and a plain cat interbreed, the young get plain fur.
Asiatic Golden Cats live in tropical dry forests as well as in rainforests. They are able to climb, but they prefer to hunt on the ground. This cat hunts at night for birds and rodents, and sometimes even for young deer.
In some regions of Thailand the Golden Cat is called Seua fai ("fire tiger"). According to a regional legend the burning of a Golden Cat's fur drive tigers away. Eating the flesh shall have the same effect.
There are three subspecies:
- Catopuma temminckii temminckii, Himalaya, Southeast Asian mainland, Sumatra
- Catopuma temminckii dominicanorum, southeast China
- Catopuma temminckii tristis, southwest China\n