Asiatic Golden Cat

The Asian golden cat is a medium-sized wild cat, standing about 56cm at the shoulder, with a tail around a third to half the length of the body. It is highly variable in colour, occurring in reddish, golden, cinnamon, grey, brown, ocelot-patterned and black forms. White stripes edged with dark brown or black run from the nose across the cheeks and over the top of the head, and the rounded ears are black on the back (Wikipedia, general species account).

Nepal marks the westernmost edge of its range, which now reaches Jajarkot district. It is mainly solitary and terrestrial, though a capable climber that can hunt in trees, and it may be active by day, at dusk or at night depending on disturbance and prey. It takes mainly small hoofed animals such as muntjacs and chevrotains, along with rodents, reptiles and birds. Nationally Data Deficient (Nepal National Red List 2011).