Black-footed cat
| Black-footed cat | ||||||||||||
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Black-footed cat in the Wuppertal Zoo |
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| Felis nigripes | ||||||||||||
| Burchell , 1824 |
The black-footed cat ( Felis nigripes ) is the smallest African cat and is native to the south-western dry zone of southern Africa . It is one of the least explored carnivores and is considered the rarest African cat. It was only classified as endangered ( vulnerable ) in 2002 . Originally, F. n. Nigripes and F. n. Thomasi were differentiated between two subspecies, but they are no longer recognized today.
Appearance
The black-footed cat is one of the smallest cat species in the world. Females reach an average weight of 1.3 kg and males 1.9 kg. Kuders are 36.7–43.3 cm from head to torso with a 16.4–19.8 cm long tail; Cats are smaller and grow no more than 36.9 cm from head to trunk with a tail up to 17.0 cm long. The shoulder height is up to 25 cm. The head appears disproportionate to the rest of the body. The fur is ocher yellow and covered with large, black spots, the tip of the tail is black.
The name black-footed cat is a bit misleading because only the pads and undersides of the paws are black. The paws are light brown on the upper side. The fur varies in color from cinnamon, yellow-brown to tan and is covered with black or brown spots that combine to form rings on the legs, neck and tail. However, the skin is pink in color. The back of the round ears are of the same color as the basic color of the fur. The eyes are very big.
distribution and habitat
The black-footed cat is common in South Africa , Namibia and Botswana . There are few animals in Zimbabwe and in the extreme south of Angola . It lives up to an altitude of 2,000 m in dry savannah , grassland and the semi-desert of the Karoo , where there is bush and tree population. It does not live in the very dry and sandy parts of the Namib and Kalahari .
Way of life and behavior
Black-footed cats are crepuscular and nocturnal and can only rarely be seen. They spend the day in abandoned hare , porcupine or aardvark buildings and also use old termite burrows . Black-footed cats are exceptionally good graves and to a large extent expand their burrows themselves. Unlike domestic cats, which scratch with only one paw, black-footed cats use both paws.
Within a year a cat roams an area of 10 km², an adult male even 22 km². The territory of the kuders overlaps the areas of one to four female black-footed cats. They cover an average of around eight kilometers per night, but nocturnal excursions of 16 kilometers have also been observed.
Black-footed cats are shy animals that seek cover from any slight disturbance. If you corner them, they will defend themselves resolutely. In parts of the South African Karoo they are also known as "Miershooptier" or "Anthill Tiger" (anthill tiger) because of their readiness to defend and their courage . In fact, black-footed cats rarely use hollow dead termite mounds for cover, as a den, and to give birth to their young. In the fables of the indigenous San , the black-footed cat is an extremely courageous animal that even leaps on a giraffe to bite its neck.
Prey and manner of hunting
The food requirement of the black-footed cat is very high at around 250 grams per day, it corresponds to about one sixth of its body weight. You don't need water, but drink when it is available. They essentially cover their fluid requirements with their prey.
Due to their small size, black-footed cats mainly hunt small prey such as mice and birds , but they also strike gackle bustards and cape hares , some of which are heavier than themselves. Due to their low weight, insects and spiders only provide about one percent of the ingested prey mass. 53 percent of the prey weight comes from prey animals that weigh less than 30 to 40 grams. Large prey, such as the kaphase and larger birds, which are only caught occasionally, make up 32 percent of the diet; Black-footed cats are pure ground hunters and, in contrast to other cats, show little tendency to climb.
Detailed investigations into the hunting behavior of black-footed cats were carried out in the South African Cape Province . There, nine male cats and ten cats were equipped with radio transmitters and closely monitored during their nightly hunt. Different ways of hunting were found. During a fast hunt, the observed cat moved at a speed of two to three km / h through the area and scared off prey. In a different way of hunting, the cat crept through tufts of grass at a speed of 0.5 to 0.8 km / h, pausing briefly, looking around and listening. The third hunting style is difficult to distinguish from resting behavior, as the cat sometimes even sat there with its eyes closed. Her ears were always moving, however, and she immediately opened her eyes when she heard a sound. They are very active hunters who try to hit a prey every 30 minutes during their forays and are sixty percent successful. On an average night, a black-footed cat kills between ten and fourteen small rodents or birds with it.
When hunting for birds, black-footed cats sneak as close as possible to the bird and then sprint the last few meters. They grab the bird with their paws when it is still on the ground, or they jump after the bird as it flies up, grab it with their paws while it flies up and then kill it with a quick bite. The hunt of a female black-footed cat on a gackle bustard is well documented. The female sneaked up over a distance of 20 meters in 20 minutes, then sprinted the last three meters and grabbed the goblet bustle directly by the neck, held it for two minutes, until the goblet bustle stopped flapping its wings. After the bird was dead, the black-footed cat rested for a few minutes, while watching its surroundings and only then began to eat. She stayed with the dead bustard for almost six hours, burying the remains in the sand.
Reproduction
The reproductive behavior of black-footed cats has so far only been insufficiently investigated. However, observations in captive black-footed cats indicate that the female cats have an oestrus of only a day or two, which is very short compared to other small cats. During this time, the female is only ready to mate for a period of five to ten hours and then mate every twenty to fifty minutes.
The wearing time is 63 to 68 days. The litter of a black-footed cat usually consists of two, but can also contain up to four young. Young black-footed cats born in captivity weighed between 60 and 93 grams and developed a little faster than the young of domestic cats. From the very first day of life they were able to crawl and hold their heads up. The boys' eyes open between the second and the tenth day. With two weeks they can already walk, with one month they already show interest in solid foods. It is known from captive animals that females with young animals change camps every six to ten days. This behavior is attributed to the fact that the young animals are particularly endangered by predators in the wild.
health
Post-mortem autopsies of 38 captive black-footed cats revealed that 68% died of kidney amyloidosis . Tissue samples from a wild black-footed cat showed small amounts of amyloid debris, suggesting that the species may have a tendency to develop amyloidosis.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Sliwa, A. (2008) Felis nigripes. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.1. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Felis nigripes
- ↑ a b c Sliwa, A. (2004) Home range size and social organization of black-footed cats (Felis nigripes). Mammalian Biology 69 (2): 96-107
- ↑ Smithers, RHN (1971) The mammals of Botswana. Issue 4 of Museum memoir. National Museum of Southern Rhodesia
- ↑ Stuart, CT, Wilson, VJ (1988) The cats of southern Africa. Chipangali Wildlife Trust, Bulawayo.
- ^ A b Sunquist, M., Sunquist, F. (2002). Wild cats of the world . Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Pages 76-82. ISBN 0-226-77999-8 .
- ↑ Olbricht, G., Sliwa, A. (1997) In situ and ex situ observations and management of Black-footed cats Felis nigripes. International Zoo Yearbook 35: 81-89
- ↑ a b Leyhausen, P., Tonkin, B. (1966) Breeding the black-footed cat (Felis nigripes) in captivity . International Zoo Yearbook 6: 178-182
- ^ Sliwa, A. (2006) Atomic Kitten . BBC Wildlife (November 2006): 36-40
- ↑ Sliwa, A. (1994) Diet and feeding behavior of the Black-footed Cat (Felis nigripes Burchell, 1824) in the Kimberley Region, South Africa . The Zoological Garden 64: 83-96
- ↑ Sliwa, A. (2006) Seasonal and sex-specific prey composition of black-footed cats Felis nigripes. Acta Theriologica 51 (2): 195-204
- ↑ a b Sliwa, A. (1994) Black-footed cat studies in South Africa . Cat News (20): 15-19
- ↑ Terio, KA, O'Brien, T., Lamberski, N., Famula, TR, Munson, L. (2008) Amyloidosis in black-footed cats (Felis nigripes) . Vet Pathol 2008 45: 393. ISSN 0300-9858 , PMID 18487501
literature
- Aurélie Renard, Maxime Lavoie, Justin A. Pitt and Serge Larivière: Felis nigripes (Carnivora: Felidae). Mammalian Species Volume 47 (925), 2015; Pp. 78-83. doi : 10.1093 / mspecies / sev008
- Mel Sunquist and Fiona Sunquist: Wild Cats of the World . The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 2002, ISBN 0-226-77999-8
Web links
- Species profile black-footed cat; IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group in English
- Black-footed Cat Working Group: Information on field research on the black-footed cat in South Africa
- Felis nigripes in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by Alexander Sliwa, 2008. Accessed January 6 of 2009.