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Hunter, L.
Africa's cryptic cats
2003 Africa Geographic (August 2003): 46-49
The jungle cat, sand cat and golden cat all await proper scientific scrutiny in Africa. Camera-trapping - where an animal takes a photo of itself by walking in front of an infrared-triggered camera - is beginning to reveal more about the last species, but so far no one has successfully employed that big gun in the biologist's arsenal, the radiocollar, on any of them. Local hunters in the rainforest find golden cats reasonably easily and jungle cats are apparently quite approachable at night, so presumably both species could be captured for radio-collaring. Sand cats represent a far greater challenge to study, mainly because of where they live, but they have been radiocollared in the Middle East so it can be done. Possibly all it requires is a determined researcher and concerted effort to succeed in opening a window into the lives of these cryptic cats. Such an endeavour would not only reveal many of the fascinating unknowns about these species, but would also provide the critical information to ensure their protection.
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