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 Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List since 2008, 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.
Felis temmincki 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.
It was subordinated to the genus Catopuma proposed by Nikolai Severtzov in 1853. Two subspecies are recognised as valid since 2017:
C. t. temminckii occurs in Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula
C. t. moormensis occurs from Nepal eastwards to Southeast Asia
Asian Golden Cat (Catopuma temminckii) - seen once in wild in Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand. These images are from a poacher’s hut in Da Lat Viet Nam in 1994 of a captive cat that could be purchased for $500 US. There were two Clouded Leopards as well.
