Breeding project for rare black-footed cats aims to release them back into the wild, re-establish lost populations and strengthen genetics. (Flickr)
The tiny black-footed cat named Tshwane hisses inside his enclosure at the Loskop Dam Nature Reserve in Mpumalanga.
It’s a firm warning from the speckled feline, explains wildlife conservationist Delecia Gunn. “It’s all bluff, but he’s got your attention. He’s just telling you to back off … They do the same thing to me every day,” she grins.
Solitary, secretive and nocturnal, black-footed cats are Africa’s smallest wild cat, weighing in at around 2kg. But the species, reputed to be the continent’s fiercest predator, doesn’t let its diminutive size stand in its way. “It looks like a baby leopard and has the attitude of a baby leopard as well — maybe I should say it has the attitude of a big leopard,” Gunn smiles.
The species face many threats like human-wildlife conflict, habitat loss and habitat destruction which is causing their numbers to drop.
Here at the reserve, she is leading the work of the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency to protect and breed the rare, little-known species for future rewilding in the reserve. Rewilding involves moving wildlife from places where they are overpopulated to areas where they are missing. By reintroducing wildlife to these places, biodiversity is once again restored, ensuring that nature thrives.
In the shadows
The species is classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and listed on Appendix 1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. This means that trade is prohibited and only allowed in exceptional conditions. In South Africa, it is listed as a threatened or protected species.
“Not much is known about them because they are nocturnal and they’re very small, so a lot of people don’t actually get to see them,” Gunn says, explaining how a database forms part of the project. “Now that we’ve started the project, we’re saying to people, ‘please keep an eye open’ and there are black-footed cats popping up all over the place … Nobody knows how many there are in South Africa because no-one has done studies.”
According to the Aspinall Foundation, an animal conservation charity funding the black-footed cat breeding project, despite their small stature, “black-footed cats are one of the most efficient predators on the planet, hunting with a 60%+ success rate and taking down a dozen small prey items per night”. Lions, in comparison, succeed in catching prey only around 25% of the time.
Gunn, who is recognised as the first person to breed parent-reared ground hornbills in captivity, started the black-footed cat project in 2006 “but then the ground hornbills took over so I had to close it down”. In 2019, it was revived. “The project is to breed black-footed cats and put them back in the reserve, which is basically what we’re doing with the ground hornbills as well.”
Release the cats
In April next year, Gunn says, the plan is to release several of the cats raised in the programme onto the reserve for the first time, and carefully monitor them.
In Afrikaans, black-footed cats are known as the anthill tiger. “These cats live in spring hare burrows and in termite hills that pangolins have opened up. All these species are interlinked,” she says.
They face numerous threats including human-wildlife conflict, habitat loss and habitat destruction leading to the loss of prey species. In Mpumalanga, habitat destruction from coal mines, she says, is a key contributor to their decline.
“My very first cat in 2006 came from a mine, which means the guys are mining in their habitat. Whether we know that or turning a blind eye, I’m not sure. That cat ran under a mine truck. They thought it was a domestic cat until they took it to the vet, and he said, no, this is a wild cat.
“Who is going to see that little cat when they are out mining? I don’t know if environmental impact assessments go as far as small things like black-footed cats and I also don’t know if anybody cares. I understand that we need mines but in the areas where you see a new mine going up, that’s another piece of their land that is going to be destroyed.”
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