A black-legged cat is perhaps the littlest wildcat on Earth. However, do not decide by the size! For her bloody associate degree outstanding looking skills she was nicknamed a hymenopteron tiger and a ravenous devil.
The maximum length of black-legged cats is forty-three cm, and another twenty cm falls on the tail of this cute beauty. As usual, the males square measure larger than females, however, they can also not boast of spectacular size. Simply imagine, the common weight of the animals is one.6 kg. For comparison, a typical pet cat weighs from three metric weight unit. With these parameters, a black-legged cat is that the smallest among African cats, and within the world, it shares the primary place with a rusty cat.
Despite her name, the paws of black-legged cats don't seem to be therefore black, however rather patterned. The’re square measure additionally cunningly custom-made to the conditions of the desert - between the pads of their fingers, there are bundles of wool, that shield the feet from the hot sand. The cat appearance considerably sort of cartilage murk. She includes a sandy yellow color with a pattern of dark spots, that in some places square measure enclosed uneven stripes. This look not solely offers the animal a predatory look, however additionally helps to catch prey, as a result of within the dark, it's virtually invisible against the background of desert sands and rocks.
! It might appear that the furred baby ought to be terribly skirted, however in contrast to most alternative cats, it doesn't climb trees. The rationale for this can be a thickset build. However, a black-legged cat digs holes all right and infrequently captures wasted white ant termites. Actually, it absolutely was for this that she was given the unofficial name "a hymenopteron tiger".
The animal feeds itself solely by looking, however, it has nice endurance - it will inexhaustibly hunt all night long. In search of prey - birds, insects, reptiles and tiny mammals - the animal is up to eight kicks away. And not in vain! 2 out of 3 attacks finish in success - even a lion cannot boast of such a result. However, the prey of the baby isn't as solid as that of the king of animals. Among the biggest victims - hares and calves bovid, whose weight is far above their own.
They eat heaps - on the average, a little cat kills fourteen small animals nightlong. And for this tiny predators got their second nickname - the "ravenous devil". They're able to accommodate Brobdingnagian parts of food, that weighs a couple of third of their own weight. And this can be explained by physiological needs: a black-legged cat must gnaw at least 250 grams of food per day. Additionally, it's typically from the food they receive the mandatory wetness - attributable to their presence within the deserts, they drink water terribly seldom. A black-legged cat's diet consists of shrews, sand lilies, blue grasses, hares, lizards and insects - beetles, locusts and grasshoppers. Predators would additionally prefer to eat birds - larks, horseshoes and even bustards will become their prey. Native legends say that a black-legged cat also can kill a camelopard if it chows its jugular vein! By the means, once a black-legged cat cat catches a prey, it does not need to eat it all - it hides it in its hole and goes back there as presently because it feels hungry.
Unlike alternative cats, a wild African cat lives alone and solely meets alternative cats for breeding. however, like all cats, she could be a tremendous mother. typically, she has 1-2 semi-naked kittens, that square measure fully coated in wool solely by half dozen weeks, however, they begin to return out of the den in three weeks. Curiously, just in case of danger, they are doing not come back to the house, however, disperse and conceal within the nearest shelters. They sit quietly till their mother calls them. At the age of 7-8 weeks youngsters square measure already making an attempt to explore for prey, that brings the mother to the den, and already at 3-4 months begin to urge food severally.
Black-legged African cat is extraordinarily noncommittal, she hides in a very shelter at the slightest rustle, but, driven into a corner, can urgently defend herself, showing new spirit and perseverance. Keeping a secret means of life, the black-legged cat is nearly invisible to humans, and thus the precise range of the population is unknown; on the idea of information from 2002, the animal was enclosed within the list of species that square measure on the verge of extinction.
Black-legged cats square measure troublesome to adapt to captive life and don't breed well. Yet today, several zoos have special breeding programs in situ to keep up the genetic diversity and population of this wonderful animal. therefore, there's hope that our descendants can have an opportunity to admire the extraordinary spirit and endurance of this little however terribly formidable predator.