Black-Footed Cat Trip to Africa

In the last 2 years I have been trying to research black-footed cats and expand my knowledge on them. Now I have an opportunity to go to South Africa to continue my pursuit of the smallest African felid and work at the Karoo Cat Research Center.

Black-footed cats are the smallest cats in Africa and one of the smallest cats in the world. While they are small in size, black-footed cats have one of the biggest attitudes. This attitude is why these cats have been forced out of upcoming farms to keep them away from livestock. Most farmers consider black-footed cats a pest. Farmers will control the populations of black-footed cats by poisoning the cat’s primary food source, mice. Black-footed cats can eat 20% of their body weight in rodents and birds every night, making the odds of being poisoned high.

We as humans are successful at changing our environment to suit our needs, much to the detriment of the native species. Black-footed cats are at risk of extinction because we have altered their environment to benefit local human populations. The cats are viewed as a problem and how is it fixed? Humans get rid of it. They kill it. They poison their food.

Instead of viewing native species as a nuisance, we need change our mentality and find a way to live together. People always look at the problems the creatures create.  It is only when they are gone, that we see all the good they do. 

By traveling to South Africa I hope to gain knowledge on how black-footed cats are kept in human care, the specific requirements for housing this felid, struggles and successes of breeding black-footed cats, and what changes can be made to give the population under human care a better quality of life. In order to help wild populations we need to also fully understand the black-footed cat and its the percieved problems on the upcoming farms.

This will be my second trip to the Karoo Cat Research Center. My institution fully funded my first trip to the Karoo Cat Research Center where I gained experience with African Wild Cats, Servals, and Caracals. For my return trip my institution has challenged me to raise half the funds and they will match the donated funds up to half the cost of the trip.

The money raised will go toward the cost of travel, room, and board while I am in South Africa working with felids.