Asian Golden Cat

The Asian golden cat (Catopuma temminckii) is a medium-sized wild cat native to the northeastern Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and China. It has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 2025, and is threatened by poaching and habitat destruction, since Southeast Asian forests are undergoing the world's fastest regional deforestation. The Asian golden cat's scientific name honours Coenraad Jacob Temminck. It is also called Temminck's cat and Asiatic golden cat. == Taxonomy == Felis temminckii was the scientific name used in 1827 by Nicholas Aylward Vigors and Thomas Horsfield who described a reddish brown cat skin from Sumatra.Felis moormensis proposed by Brian Houghton Hodgson in 1831 was a young male cat caught alive by Moormi hunters in Nepal. Felis tristis proposed by Alphonse Milne-Edwards in 1872 was a spotted Asian golden cat from China. Although briefly classified under the genus Pardofelis in 2007, a taxonomic revision determined that this species is retained in the genus Catopuma. This decision was based on morphological analysis showing that its skull structure, as well as the characteristics of its legs and tail, differ from other species within the genus Pardofelis. It was subordinated to the genus Catopuma proposed by Nikolai Severtzov…