Africa’s elusive golden cat is so rare that scientists long struggled to confirm its numbers, but new technology is finally changing that. After Mwezi Mugerwa first spotted the mysterious feline on a camera trap, he launched a continent-wide effort to study the species, founding the African Golden Cat Conservation Alliance. With support from AI tools that can identify individual cats by their subtle coat patterns, researchers are now uncovering population densities and assessing the impact of poaching. Early findings show that the cats exist in low numbers and are heavily affected by widespread bushmeat snares. To protect them, Mugerwa’s Embaka project partners with local communities, turning former hunters into key allies in conservation.
CNN
