[imagesource:utahhoglezoo]

The cutest eight-month-old black-footed cat named Gaia recently arrived at Utah’s Hogle Zoo, and despite making you feel fuzzy this little furball is one of the most ruthless predators on the planet.

In the wild, black-footed cats kill 60% of the prey they set their eyes on — big cats have a hunting success rate of around 25% – earning them the title of the “world’s deadliest cat.”

Black-footed cats can eat as many as 14 meals per day, and just one Gaia can eat upwards of 3,000 rodents a year.

Despite being so fierce, black-footed cats are endangered and that’s where Gaia comes in. She’s part of a North American breeding programme organised by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums that aims to help the cats’ numbers rebound. Zookeepers brought Gaia to Hogle Zoo, hoping she would one day mate with a three-year-old male at the zoo named Ryder.

“We laugh and joke about it as being endangered species dating,” says Bob Cisneros, Hogle Zoo’s associate director of animal care.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Hogle Zoo (@hoglezoo)

Black-footed cats are smaller than a typical house cat, weighing between one and three kilograms on average. Even so, they’re some of the most perfect killers on the planet. They hunt at night, using their incredible vision and blinding speed to pounce on birds, reptiles, insects and rodents. In captivity, Gaia will have to settle for eating a special diet of organs, muscle and ground bone, plus a few humanely euthanised mice.

These cats are native to Africa and are found mostly in the dry parts of Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa. They are also the smallest species of wild cat found on the continent.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Hogle Zoo (@hoglezoo)

But, over time, zookeepers hope she’ll serve as an ambassador for her species and for wildlife conservation efforts.

“While animals like Ryder and Gaia may be found in Africa, far away from what we do on a daily basis… they become representatives of a conservation message that applies to everything here.”

[source:smithsonianmagazine&dailymail]