Felis Nigripes

With a name as blatant and descriptive as “black-footed cat,” the literal translation of Felis nigripes is almost certainly assumed to have black feet, however, its name is slightly misleading. Melvin and Fiona Sunquist, authors of Wild Cats of the World, note only the soles of the black-footed cat’s feet are truly black, whereas the visible upper parts are no different from the rest of its tawny colored coat (76). The name is further misunderstood within the Felidae family, since the African wildcat also has dark fur on the soles of its feet. The common name, “small-spotted cat” was introduced in 1980, as Sunquist and Sunquist suggest, to relieve confusion between the two species, but at the same time created new issues in deciphering between Felis nigripes and the similar-sized “small-spotted genet” since they share the same South African habitat (76). Felis nigripes is referred to by both black-footed cat and small-spotted cat, depending on authority preference. It is also known in the South African language of Afrikaans as miershooptier, or anthill tiger, from its method of creating burrows in abandoned termite mounds (76).
Description
The black-footed cat is one of the smallest felines …show more content…
The cat is considered rare to the region compared to other wild cats of South Africa, and is at high risk of extinction outside of captivity due to its classification as “Vulnerable” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species. The critical endangerment of the black-footed cat has resulted in prohibited hunting of the species in Botswana and South Africa (Silwa