The black-footed cat (Felis nigripes), also called the small-spotted cat, is the smallest wild cat in Africa, having a head-and-body length of 35–52 cm (14–20 in). Despite its name, only the soles of its feet are black or dark brown. With its bold small spots and stripes on the tawny fur, it is well camouflaged, especially on moonlit nights.

2023年7月18日 · The black-footed cat is one of the lesser studied wild cats of Africa. Felis nigripes is included on CITES Appendix I and protected by national legislation across most of its range. Hunting is banned in Botswana and South Africa. Felid TAG 2003 recommendation: Black-footed cat (Felis nigripes).

2018年5月14日 · For this reason, it is tricky for researchers to estimate the number of black-footed cats in the wild, but it is believed that there are less than 10,000 mature individuals in the wild, and that the population is declining. For these reasons, the black-footed cat is listed as ‘vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List. 3.

The Black-footed cat (Felis nigripes) is the smallest wild cat in Africa.The first black-footed cat known to science was discovered in the northern Karoo of South Africa and described in 1824. This rare and secretive cat usually rests in burrows during the day and hunts at night.

Black-footed Cats are solitary, except for females with dependent kittens, and during mating. After a 63 – 68 day gestation, one to four kittens are born at the bottom of a burrow weighing 60 – 84 grams. Females have two litters per year. The mother frequently changes dens, probably to avoid attracting predators.

Black-footed Cats inhabit the arid steppes and grassland savannas of the Kalahari, the Karoo deserts and parts of the South African Highveld, often in association with termite mounds. Male Black-footed Cats use a home range of up to 25 km² in one year and share the area with up to three females, who have smaller ranges of 10 km². Every night ...

The black-footed cat (Felis nigripes) is Africa’s smallest wild cat species. It is found only in southern Africa in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa. This tiny nocturnal predator is often referred to as “the world’s deadliest cat” because of its unusually high hunting success rate.

2017年4月25日 · The black-footed cat is a carnivore, and as such, its diet is purely made up of meat. They will eat a variety of small animals such as rodents, insects, amphibians, and birds. Majority of their food weigh less than 40 g, but the cat will hunt larger prey when their usual menu is scarce, such as hares and bustards, but this mostly occurs in the ...

Black-footed cats eat a wide variety of small animals, 98% of which are mammals and birds, mammals making up 72% and birds 26% of the diet. Animals weighing less than 40 g made up more than half of their prey base. Larger animals were mainly caught during winter, when smaller prey was unavailable. These larger animals may be cached for later use.

The black-footed cat also die infrequently in collisions with vehicles and is subject to predation from snakes, jackals, caracals and owls as well as opportunistically being killed by domestic dogs. Increasing interspecific competitions and intraguild predation are emerging threats to the species. Domestic cats can also threaten the black ...