Camera traps set up by our project in Nigeria have captured rare footage of the elusive African golden cat attacking a pangolin in the Gashaka Gumti National Park, home to our Nigeria project.
It is the first time Africa’s golden cat has been caught on camera in the area.
Scott Wilson, our head of field conservation, said:
“The golden cat is the least known of Africa’s felids, so any additional information and footage of it is exciting. Camera traps can tend to take a lot of video with nothing on… so when a rare species turns up it is always exciting – when they are exhibiting interesting behaviours, doubly so!”
The video shows the cat pouncing on the pangolin, a long-tailed mammal covered in scaly armoured plates. You can see the pangolin reacting defensively and curling up into a ball to try and protect itself.
We use camera traps such as these in remote areas to learn more about the species living in the habitat. The footage adds to the limited understanding of the golden cat, clearly showing that pangolin may be prey.