One of the world's deadliest cats appeared in a US zoo: what it looks like
The Salt Lake City Zoo has announced that it is now home to an eight-month-old black-footed cat, Gaia. This species, which originates from Africa, is one of the smallest in the world, but it is also one of the deadliest cats on the planet, capable of capturing "more prey in one night than a leopard in six months."
"They have a reputation for being very ferocious cats," Bob Cisneros, the zoo's deputy director of animal care, told The Salt Lake Tribune.
Gaia, who weighs less than three pounds, comes from a lineage of successful hunters.
Black-footed cats have a hunting success rate of more than 60%, Cisneros said.
This nocturnal feline is found in the arid sandy grasslands of southern Africa. It has a small, plump body and tail, which makes it a clumsy and inept climber. Instead, these cats spend their days hiding in abandoned burrows or termite holes.
Despite the impressive volume of their voice compared to their body size, these cats live an extremely solitary life, becoming independent when they are only 4 or 5 months old and only coming together again for mating. Males cover a territory of up to 22 square kilometers (8.5 square miles) per year, while females cover only about 10.3 square kilometers (4 square miles).