The Smallest African Cat Is Also the World’s Deadliest
The black-footed cat, which is the smallest African cat, is also considered the world’s deadliest. It is scientifically known as Felis negripes and is just 8 to 10 inches tall but is able to capture more prey than in one night than leopards do in six months, the PBS miniseries Super Cats says. Usually they live up to 13 years. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists them as vulnerable. According to the International Species Service, there are 21 of them caged worldwide.
Black-footed cats are fierce when they are cornered. Hence, their nickname miershooptier, which means “anthill tigers.” Despite their tiny size, they are known for being brave and tenacious.
Black-footed cats have a round facial structure and have light brown fur covered with black oblong spots. Dark black stripes, also called “ring bars”, can be seen on their legs, neck and tails. They have large eyes that can either be amber or greyish brown. They also have large round ears that which are pale brown behind. The inner part of their legs, chin, belly and chest have a whitish hue. They are also described by the International Society for Endangered Cats (ISEC) as possessing a wide skull.
Bigcatrescue.org states that they are 14 to 17 inches in length, excluding the tail. Their tails measure up to 6 to 8 inches long. Males are said to 8 to 10 inches in height. They weigh around 2.2 to 5.5 lbs.
Female black-footed cats often give birth to only two kittens, but may also give birth to up to three. At birth, kittens are about 2 to 3 ounces. At around two weeks, they already able to walk. They begin consuming solid food as they grow a month old. In two months, they no longer depend solely on their mother’s milk to survive. The kittens are born and brought up in a den. After a week, the mother may transfer them to other places.
As the kittens reach four to five months of age, they can live on their own. They may stay with their mother for a short while after turning independent.
Communication and Behavior
It is said that their calls sound much louder than the cats who are similar in size, which is assumed to help them communicate with other black-footed cats from faraway. When they are beside each other, their sounds reduce to purrs and gurgles. When they sense danger, they hiss and howl. Most of the time they are alone, even said to be solitary creatures. They are noted to only congregate when they have to mate.
They are also characterized as nocturnal, only active in the period between sunrise and sunset. During the day, they stay in the burrows left by porcupines, aardvarks and spring hares. They may alter the size of the burrow for their comfort. Sometimes, they sleep in empty termite mounds.
In order to mark their territory, black-footed cats urinate their area to leave a scent. Another way they mark it is by leaving their feces in a place that is visible to others.
Wild black-footed cats often eat arachnids, reptiles, small mammals and birds, and insects. In captivity, they are usually fed mice and commercial cat food. They occasionally feed on white quilled bustards and on Cape hares.
They are often found in the grasslands of southern areas of Africa such as Zimbabwe, Angola, and Namibia. Before their population declined, some of them resided in Botswana. However, there have been no reports of black-footed cat sightings in Botswana for quite some time.
Black-footed cats usually inhabit areas that are open, sandy, and have long grasses where there are plenty of birds and rodents. At daytime, they stay in holes in termite mounds or abandoned burrows.
Why They Are Tiny but Deadly
Since black-footed cats have fast metabolisms, they need to be constantly on the hunt for food, LiveScience. They use three hunting strategies to get their prey. The first is called “fast hunting” which involves them jumping so suddenly and almost randomly through the tall grass. The second involves using stealth: they silently move around then carefully sneak up on their target. The third is called “still hunting” which involves the black-footed cats sitting and waiting close the burrows of rodents.
These tiny predators collect around 10 to 14 birds or rodents in one night. On an average, they manage to kill every 50 minutes. They are said to have triple the success rate of lion, which is 60%. This means that typically, 20% to 25% of the time, they are able to successfully take down their prey.
Luke Hunter, the Chief Conservation Officer at Panthera states, “If you’re a gazelle or a wildebeest, a black-footed cat isn’t at all deadly. But those success rates make them the deadliest little cat on earth.”
