Golden cat is Laila’s video star

A former Scariff Community College student has landed a major coup by recording the first known video of an African Golden Cat as part of her work to protect this rare species.
Zoologist Laila Bahaa-el-din spent over two years studying the “near threatened” African Golden Cat, without ever seeing one, before she managed to record what is believed to be the only publicly released video of the species in the wild.
The video, recorded by a motion-activated camera placed in a Gabon forest, shows a golden cat, which is about twice the size of a domestic cat. The cat is a shy animal that avoids human contact and lives in hard-to-access parts of central African forests.
Laila moved to Scariff with her mother Christina Grisewood and stepfather when she was just 13 in 1988 and went on to spend five years in Scariff Community College, where she completed her Junior and Leaving Certificate.
Inspired by her grandfather, a journalist turned conservationist, Laila completed a bachelor degree in Zoology in Nottingham University and a course on tropical biology, where an associated field course led her to a forest in Uganda.
Analysing the number of spots on a golden cat, she hopes to use a statistical model to provide an accurate estimate of the number of cats in a particular area.
Considering the golden cat has lost about 40% of its range in areas such as the North and Ivory Coast, she stressed measures are necessary to protect its habitat.
“As far as we know, it’s never before been filmed in the wild for the public domain,” said Luke Hunter, president of Panthera, the conservation group providing most of the funding for the team’s work.
The footage, photos and other information that the team is gathering – part of an effort to get a population estimate in certain areas of Gabon’s forests – could contribute to a greater understanding of the species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature, which lists the animal as near-threatened, says it is not only infrequently observed in the wild, it is “Africa’s least studied felid [cat]”.
Laila, who is leading the survey team, hopes its population estimates in four categories of Gabon’s forest can give governments, logging companies and other groups useful information to help preserve the species.
“I don’t think I can put capturing the video into words. I live and dream golden cats most days. To get back to camp and put the footage on the computer and have this cat basically posing for the camera, it’s incredible. I watched it five times in-a-row and pretty much didn’t sleep that night.”
She explained the video was captured in one of Gabon’s better-managed logging concessions, an area leased to a logging company.

After she and a field assistant spent three weeks prospecting the area, they set 40 sets of still-camera traps, each activated by motion, and returned to collect photos roughly every two weeks for a seven-week period.
After photos showed that a golden cat was getting close to one camera, she decided to set a video camera at that station.
Days later, she had several clips of an African Golden Cat walking and lounging during the day and one at night, chasing what appeared to be a bat.
She will survey three more areas through 2012: a more loosely managed logging area; an area where humans hunt; and pristine forest. By comparing the different information, she will be able to ascertain how hunting affects golden cats.
Besides taking photos, the team is checking waste from golden cats and leopards to determine what those animals are eating and whether humans’ hunting of leopard prey is forcing leopards to compete with golden cats for food.
The highlight of her work in Gabon occurred at her last study site. “From the images at one of my camera trap sites, I noticed I had a playful golden cat returned several times, so I placed a video camera at the site and left it there for a couple of weeks.
“An examination of the memory card showed an African Golden Cat posing in front of the camera. No other video footage of wild golden cat had ever been made public to my knowledge. It was of a young male who spent quite some time at the site, sitting right in front of the camera, and playing around the area. There was even some footage of him chasing a bat,” Laila said.