Is it possible to hunt the Black-footed cat in South Africa? On my last trip over there I saw 3 different cats while hunting jackal at night. If it is possible to hunt them, where do I apply for a permit?

Thank you.

Flatlander

flatlander,

You can hunt the blackfoot cat in South Africa, but only with some very special permits. It is far to involved to explain in detail her the procedure that your Hunting Outfitter will have to follow if you want to legally hunt one and export the trophy.

Please send me a PM on where and when you wish to hunt one, and what else you are interested in, and I'll follow-up.

In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren

PM sent.

Thank you.

flatlander

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ALF, who is listing the cat as a critical species? Please post a link. The only resources I have looked at in regards to there status are the Smithsonian Institutions “Animal†book. Copyright 2001 and the IUCN website. At the time of the printing in 01 they listed the animal as “lower risk,†Same as the Leopard, caracal and several other African cats as well as several antelope that are regularly hunted. In 01 the lion and Cheetah were given the “vulnerable†status, which is more critical than the Lower Risk category that the Black-Footed Cat was in. The IUCN did change the status to vulnerable in 02 for whatever reason but that is the most currant info I have found.

I don’t know of any hunter that would not want to take a nice lion. But at the same time I don’t know of a hunter that would kill a lion if he or the powers that be thought it would be detrimental to its survival as a species. I am no different. My friend has seen dozens of the little boogers while night hunting leading us to believe they are not as rare as some may think. The status of the cat and other animals I listed are based on the 2000-02 IUCN Red List. “International Union for the conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.†They recognize that many of the worlds animals are poorly known and realize that with so little man power it is difficult to assess changes in populations. The Black-Footed Cat is undoubtedly a very miss understood animal and rarely studied.

Personally I think because of their small size, their small territories and their behavior in general the real status is much different than the published one. Real threats like poising are nearly a thing of the past in the RSA. With the more target specific predator control methods that are now used, accidental catches and shootings are nearly nonexistent. In the Free State where many if not most of the little cats are found, jackal and their other natural predators namely the caracal are trimmed way back due to sheep interests.

Pan tension on foot hold traps is usually set heavy to avoid not target catches like the Cape Fox, Bat-eared Fox and other small predators so the Black-footed cat runs a very small risk of being caught. It will be interesting how the status of this naturally rare cat is assessed in the future.

Several years ago I shot a feral cat that appeared to be crossed with an African Wild Cat. I was unaware that the Black-Footed cat would interbreed with domestics as well. I wonder why the African Wild Cat doesn’t cross breed with them because physically they are almost indistinguishable to a domestic and there territories are overlapped.

Thanks and good hunting.

flatlander

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