Black-footed Bath

Black-footed Cat (Felis nigripes)

Fun Fact!: Folk lore has it that black-footed cats have been known to leap on the neck of a giraffe to bring it down. The Black-footed cat is also known as meirshooptier (anthill tiger) because of its habitat of sleeping in hollowed out termite mounds!

Conservation Note!: Black-footed cats are naturally rare, though somewhat more common in certain parts of South Africa. They are the most rare and secretive African cat species. Because of this, in part, they are poorly studied in the wild, with no accurate estimate of wild population status. Though they are not generally hunted for pelts, like other African cat species, black-footed cats face many difficulties in the wild. They may be caught by farmers practicing predator control with poisoned bait and steel-jaw traps for African wild cats and jackals. Locust poisoning affects their survival because these are prey items for the cats. They are also dealing with habitat deterioration from overgrazing by livestock. They are protected across most of their range and hunting them is prohibited in Botswana and South Africa. Black-footed cats can be difficult to keep in captivity. Right now there are only about 75 cats in zoos worldwide, with just over 20 in nine AZA zoos in the United States.

Taken at Utah's Hogle Zoo