They are the smallest wild cats in Africa. The African wildcat is almost three times as large as the black-footed cat. 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.
It usually rests in burrows during the day and hunts at night. It moves between 5 and 16 km (3.1 and 9.9 mi) on average, in search of small rodents and birds, mostly moving in small circles and zig-zagging among bushes and termite mounds. Due to its small size, the black-footed cat hunts mainly small prey such as rodents and small birds, but also preys on Cape hare.
In 1993, a female and a male black-footed cat were followed for 622 hours and observed hunting. They caught vertebrates every 50 minutes and killed up to 14 small animals in a night. It can catch birds in flight, jumping up to 1.4 m (4 ft 7 in) high, and also dares to attack mammals and birds much heavier than itself.
The black-footed cat is nocturnal and usually solitary. Unlike most other cats, it is a poor climber, as its stocky body and short tail are thought not to be conducive for climbing trees.
By Patrick Ch. Apfeld, derivative editing by Poke2001 - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22540621
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By Ltshears - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17338325
The first black-footed cat known to science was discovered in the northern Karoo of South Africa and described in 1824. It is endemic to the arid steppes and grassland savannas of Southern Africa. In the late 1960s, it was recorded in southern Botswana, but only few authentic records exist in Namibia.
It usually rests in burrows during the day and hunts at night. It moves between 5 and 16 km (3.1 and 9.9 mi) on average, in search of small rodents and birds, mostly moving in small circles and zig-zagging among bushes and termite mounds. Due to its small size, the black-footed cat hunts mainly small prey such as rodents and small birds, but also preys on Cape hare.
In 1993, a female and a male black-footed cat were followed for 622 hours and observed hunting. They caught vertebrates every 50 minutes and killed up to 14 small animals in a night. It can catch birds in flight, jumping up to 1.4 m (4 ft 7 in) high, and also dares to attack mammals and birds much heavier than itself.
The black-footed cat is nocturnal and usually solitary. Unlike most other cats, it is a poor climber, as its stocky body and short tail are thought not to be conducive for climbing trees.
Known as the "Miershooptier" in Afrikaans.