The Use of Camera Traps For Researching Cryptic Wild Cats – the African Golden Cat

by Laila Bahaa-el-din

The African golden cat Caracal aurata is Africa’s only forest-dependent felid. Due to high rates of deforestation and bushmeat hunting, it has already lost a large proportion of its former range and is currently classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. Very little is known about the African golden cat, and the few studies that have been done have focused on the golden cat’s diet, which was found to consist mostly of mammalian prey, notably rodents and small antelopes.

African golden cats live in dense forest and are shy by nature and therefore very rarely seen. This has hitherto made them difficult to research. Camera trapping is a non-invasive method for collecting vital data. For this reason, camera traps have been used extensively in wild cat research and conservation projects. This technique is particularly useful for species whose individuals can be identified through their different coat patterns. This allows researchers to see how many individuals are in a certain area and make density estimates.

As African golden cats have spotting on their underbellies and legs and the pattern differs between individuals, there is the potential to use camera traps to make density estimates. These estimates are important as they can help us determine how big a protected area needs to be to maintain viable populations of the target species.

This project, supported by Panthera, first set out to test the use of camera traps for studying this species’ conservation biology. A four-month pilot study was conducted in 2010 in Gabon’s Lopé National Park. Sixty camera traps were left up at 30 sites, two on each side of the trail. A total of 37 golden cat captures were recorded during this period, showing that camera traps are a viable tool for monitoring golden cats.

What is known about golden cat behaviour and ecology is mostly anecdotal, based on observation of captive individuals and a few wild sightings. Our preliminary findings already indicate that these premises are not all accurate for wild golden cats in Gabon. Of course, we need to increase our sample size before we can make any firm conclusions. Also, it may be that golden cats behave in a certain way in Gabon where they compete with and are predated upon by leopards. Their activity patterns may be entirely different in other parts of their range where leopards have been wiped out and the golden cat is the top land carnivore.

This research will now continue for the next two years at several sites in Gabon that differ in their level of human disturbance. The camera traps will be used at these sites to determine the golden cat’s density in these areas, their preferred habitat, their activity patterns, to what extent they compete with leopards, and the effect on them of human activities such as logging and hunting.

Photo caption: Caught on camera trap: Golden cats have variable fur colour, with the most frequent being grey or, like this individual, reddish gold.

Photo copyright: ©Laila Bahaa-el-din/Panthera 

You can help ISEC Canada purchase more camera traps for this study! All funds raised go directly to the project in Gabon.