Golden Cat Gets Tangled Up in Wild Boar Trap in Indonesia’s West Sumatra

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – What a pity that a rare Asiatic golden cat (Catopuma temminckii) was injured when it got tangled up for two days in a wild boar trap in Kamang Mudiak Village in Agam Regency, West Sumatera.

Classified as near threatened by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the golden cat lives on grasslands, forests, and farms. Its population has dropped about 20 percent, and nearly 30 percent in recent years because of habitat loss and poaching activity.

The species has been documented from 12 countries in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia where they can only be found on Sumatera Island.

Villagers found the four-year-old male golden cat on June 16 in a farm.

“The rare cat was tangled up in wild boar trap on Tuesday. We have evacuated the cat already,” Head of the Bukittinggi Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA Bukittinggi) Vera Chiko told Kompas.com June 17. It was later brought to a veterinary clinic.

“The location where it was trapped was quite far from the village. We are now treating the cat at the Bukittinggi Zoo Animal Clinic,” said Chiko. “The villagers often find a golden cat on the farm.”

He said that the trap was meant to catch wild boars. When the villagers had it inspected, they found the unsuspecting golden cat, which is thought to have comparable abundances to the tiger.

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Two years ago, another golden cat also surprised the villagers in Gempong Masjid, Kawai XVI Subdistrict in Aceh Province on the northern end of Sumatera. At that time, the golden cat was spotted in the garage of a resident.

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