Gaia, a small black footed African cat, has celebrated her first birthday with some tasty treats.
The kitty, which may look cute, is in fact one of the deadliest in the world. The black footed cat is the smallest species of wild cat in Africa and known for their killer reputation.
Zookeepers at Utah‘s Hogle zoo in Salt Lake City note how Gaia’s species have a 60 percent success rate when it comes to hunting, compared to the likes of other big cats where a 20 percent success killing rate is the norm.
In one cute video posted to Instagram, Gaia can be seen hunting around her enclosure for some carefully hidden kitty treats as part of her birthday celebrations.
Gaia, a tiny African black-footed cat, marked her first birthday at Utah’s Hogle Zoo with some delicious treats
Despite her adorable appearance, she belongs to one of Africa’s deadliest cat species, known for their remarkable hunting skills with a 60% success rate
Videos show Gaia hunting for hidden treats and displaying her formidable teeth
In another video posted by the zoo earlier this month Gaia lets out an enormous snarl in which her fanged teeth are clearly visible.
The video is appropriately captioned ‘When people keep calling you cute, even though you’re one of the deadliest cats’.
According to the Hogle Zoo, black-foot cats can eat around 3,000 rodents per year in their natural habitats.
Bob Cisneros, the Associate Director of Animal Care describes Gaia as a ‘pretty feisty cat,’ and a ‘mighty warrior.’
The young feline is currently being kept on a strict diet of ground bone, skeletal muscle and organs, and ‘the occasional mouse that’s already been humanely euthanized through the zoo’s distributors.’
Black-footed cats, despite being small, are agile hunters found in arid regions of Africa, earning the nickname ‘ant-hill tiger.’
The cat has been at the zoo in Utah for the last six months
Gaia snacking on a bone, which is part of the strict and specific diet she is being kept on
Despite Gaia’s extremely unassuming appearance, black foot cats are considered to be some of the deadliest cats in the world
‘These guys are voracious hunters. They have a reputation for being a very fierce cat,’ said Cisneros.
Despite their miniature stature, black-foots can spring up to five feet in the air and six-and-a-half feet in distance.
Black-footed cats are native to Africa and are found mostly in the arid eastern parts of Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa. They are the smallest species of wild cat found on the continent.
In the Afrikaans language, they are called ‘ant-hill tigers.’
Gaia is one of four black-footed kittens to come out of her litter at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Texas. She was moved to her new home in Utah last October.
The zoo took her in upon a breeding recommendation from the Black-Footed Cat Consortium.
The Hogle Zoo is already home to a male black-footed cat named Ryder that they plan to introduce to Gaia in the future.
‘Gaia’s introduction to Ryder, the male black-footed cat, is in the cards, but we’ll let these two feline friends get acquainted when Gaia reaches maturity,’ the zoo said earlier this year.
Gaia will soon be introduced to a male cat in the hope the pair will breed
The very cute cat arrived at the Hogle Zoo in Utah in October
The animals can catch more prey than leopards within a six-month time period.
They can also defend themselves against animals that are ‘eight times their size’.
The black-footed cats are skilled at camouflaging themselves while hunting, and they also have a strong sense of hearing and night vision.
Although the cats are avid hunters, their species was listed as vulnerable by the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) back in 2002.
As of 2019, only around 10,000 black-footed cats remain in the wild and 28 of those animals are in North America.
‘One of our goals is to raise awareness of the species as a whole, because we really need support from the public,’ said Hogle veterinary technician Janice Thompson.
‘It’s the rarest African cat. We’re working really hard to increase their numbers.
‘Fossil Rim [in Texas] is so successful with their breeding program,’ said Thompson.
‘Part of that is because it’s behind the scenes, and the cats have a lot of privacy.’
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