[4] The African golden cat has a fur colour ranging from chestnut or reddish-brown, greyish brown to dark slaty.

[6] Skins of African golden cats can be identified by the presence of a distinctive whorled ridge of fur in front of the shoulders, where the hairs change direction.

It is a heavily built cat, with stocky, long legs, a relatively short tail, and large paws.

[7] Felis aurata was the scientific name used by Coenraad Jacob Temminck who described a reddish-brown coloured cat skin in 1827 that he had bought from a merchant in London.

[8] Temminck also described a grey coloured skin of a cat with chocolate brown spots that had lived in the menagerie in London.

[9] Felis neglecta proposed by John Edward Gray in 1838 was a brownish grey cat skin from Sierra Leone.

[10] Felis rutilus proposed by George Robert Waterhouse in 1842 was a reddish cat skin from Sierra Leone.

[11] Felis chrysothrix cottoni proposed by Richard Lydekker in 1906 was a dark grey cat skin from the Ituri Rainforest.

[21] In Uganda's Kibale National Park, an African golden cat was recorded in an Uvariopsis forest patch in 2008.

They are solitary animals, and are normally crepuscular or nocturnal, although they have also been observed hunting during the day, depending on the availability of local prey.

[4][5] Knowledge of the African golden cat's reproductive habits is based on captive individuals.

One individual was reported to be scaling a 40-cm wall within 16 days of birth, reflecting a high degree of physical agility from an early age.

[4] The African golden cat is threatened by extensive deforestation of tropical rainforests, their conversion to oil palm plantations coupled with mining activities and road building, thus destroying its essential habitat.