They possess a lovely and innocent appearance, but in fact black-footed cats are the most dangerous cold-blooded predators on the planet.

What is the most dangerous animal on our blue planet? Of course, other than humans, what animal deserves that title?

Surely people might think it was a lion, a tiger, a bear, a leopard, but in reality those species are nothing, the most dangerous animal on the planet actually has a much smaller body. Many, they often live in the thickets of the Karoo Desert, South Africa, they are the smallest cat in Africa – the black-footed cat.

The American self-made television channel PBS recently filmed a documentary called “Super Cat” about black-footed cats.

Black-footed cats are quite modest in size, they are only 36 – 52 cm long and weigh from 1 – 3 kg. It has a round face and a beautiful black-spotted suit.

But don’t rush to judge them by their cute little appearance, they possess tremendous damage and instill fear in the birds and rodents living around their area.

Locals even claim it can kill giraffes, but that’s probably just a bit of an exaggeration.

Biologists say that black-footed cats and small carnivores often have very fast metabolisms, so they must constantly hunt to stay alive. Every night, black-footed cats hunt and eat meat equivalent to one-sixth of their body weight.

To make it easier to imagine, if humans possess the metabolic rate of black-footed cats, a person weighing 60kg a day must eat 10kg of meat to be able to survive and develop.

Like domestic cats, black-footed cats also have small bodies and round faces. However, behind that deceptive appearance, they are a famous hunter in the wild.

During the day, black-footed cats often rest in burrows under the bushes in the desert. When night falls, they begin to peel off their adorable innocent mask to become cold-blooded predators. Their prey is usually rodents, birds and sometimes too scarce food, they also eat scorpions.

The black-footed cat, known to scientists as the Gyra, is one of the smallest cats in the world and is native to southern Africa.

Black-footed cats possess three different methods of hunting, that is, using speed to chase birds or mice to catch them. The second method, this is probably the most common method of the cat family, they will silently observe their prey and silently approach slowly until there is a suitable distance, they will rush out. to finish off the prey.

The third method, they will silently stand motionless at the mouth of the cave to wait for the prey to pass and rush, sometimes they can stand still for more than 2 hours just to wait for the prey to pass.

The lower part of their legs and paws have a black coat, which is why they get the name black-footed cats.

During the day, black-footed cats rest in burrows or termite nests.

When attacking birds, black-footed cats can even jump up to 1.5m high and extend a distance of 2m, they are only 36-52cm long and weigh from 1-3kg, imagine if humans could jump. and far from the body proportions of black-footed cats, it is guaranteed that humanity will be flooded with Superman.

The success rate in each hunt of black-footed cats is up to 60%, the highest among wild cats.

Each night, black-footed cats run about 32km to forage, they hunt and kill 10-14 prey, the average speed is 50 minutes for each hunt.

Another study found that a black-footed cat would eat about 3,000 birds and rodents each year.

Unlike domestic cats, black-footed cats are solitary animals and are nocturnal animals, so they are rarely seen. The climbing ability of the black-footed cat is also quite poor compared to other species in the cat family.

But that’s still nothing, because their level of success in hunting is amazing, the success rate for each time is up to 60%, which means less than half the number of prey can Protect your life when falling into their sights.

Meanwhile, the success rate of hunting lions and African leopards is only 20-25%, polar bears – the largest extant carnivores on our planet also only possess The success rate in each hunt is 5%.

Currently, this species is found only in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.

Although black-footed cats are very dangerous, today their habitat is being invaded and destroyed by humans, their lives are seriously threatened.

They are now classified as vulnerable wildlife. However, cats are animals with a very high ability to adapt and survive, it takes thousands of years for humans to tame, but just a few months in the wild, they will become animals with instincts. extreme wild.

Luke Hunter, the Panthera conservation director, told Weisberger that black-footed cats kill an average of 10 to 14 individuals of rodents or small birds each night because the body’s metabolism tells it to go. non-stop hunting.

So it’s very possible that, someday, in a scenario where humans have taken all their homes, they will most likely adapt themselves to live in human areas and obviously In this case human pets and poultry will be included in their menu.

With the speed of hunting and the success rate just mentioned, it must have caused great damage.

Insects such as spiders and scorpions contribute less than 1% of their total food source.