An Asian golden cat recently rescued from a boar trap in West Sumatra succumbed to its injuries and died yesterday, following two days of intensive medical treatment.
The medium-sized wild cat, also known by its latin name catopuma temminckii, was found by a resident of Kamang Magek sub-district in Agam regency on Tuesday evening, who had set up the trap to catch wild boars in the area. The feline was wounded in its left front leg and had lost a lot of blood by the time conservation officers rescued it.
Erly Sukrismanto, who heads the Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) in West Sumatra , explained that the cat was then brought to the vet clinic at Bukittinggi Zoo for treatment. It recovered briefly and appears to have regained its appetite, and the agency had even planned on releasing it to a location far from residential areas.
“We initially thought that [the golden cat] would recover. But we suspect that the cat was stressed and there’s the condition of it having lost a lot of blood, and it eventually died,” Erly said today.
Another possible cause of death might be dehydration, with the Head of BKSDA in Bukittinggi city Vera Chiko suspecting the presence of ectoparasite and severe anemia as other factors.
The wild cat was a 4-year-old male. BKSDA Bukittinggi has recorded the deaths of at least three golden cats since last year, with the first two dying of virus and bacteria infections.
The Asian golden cat is native to Southeast Asia, Southern China, and the northeastern Indian subcontinent. The species has been listed as “Near Threatened” on the IUCN Red List since 2008 due to wildlife hunting and habitat loss as a result of rapid deforestation throughout Southeast Asia. The cat’s scientific name honors Dutch Zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck.
