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Animal Age

How old does a Black-footed cat get? (age expectancy)

What is the maximal age a Black-footed cat reaches?

An adult Black-footed cat (Felis nigripes) usually gets as old as 12 years.

Black-footed cats are around 67 days in the womb of their mother. When born, they weight 72 grams (0.16 lbs) and measure 4.43 meter (14′ 7″). As a member of the Felidae family (genus: Felis), a Black-footed cat caries out around 1 little ones per pregnancy, which happens around 4 times a year. Fully grown, they reach a bodylength of 40.1 cm (1′ 4″).

As a reference: Usually, humans get as old as 100 years, with the average being around 75 years. After being carried in the belly of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks), they grow to an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) and weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual.

A Black-footed cat gets as old as 12 years

The black-footed cat (Felis nigripes), also called the small-spotted cat, is the smallest wild cat in Africa, having a head-and-body length of 35–52 cm (14–20 in). Despite its name, only the soles of its feet are black or dark brown. With its bold small spots and stripes on the tawny fur, it is well camouflaged, especially on moonlit nights. It bears black streaks running from the corners of the eyes along the cheeks, and its banded tail has a black tip.The first black-footed cat known to science was discovered in the northern Karoo of South Africa and described in 1824. It is endemic to the arid steppes and grassland savannas of Southern Africa. In the late 1960s, it was recorded in southern Botswana, but only few authentic records exist in Namibia, in southern Angola, and in southern Zimbabwe. Due to its restricted distribution, it has been listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List since 2002. The population is suspected to be declining due to poaching of prey species for human consumption as bushmeat, persecution, traffic accidents, and predation by domestic dogs and cats. The black-footed cat has been studied using radio telemetry since 1993. This research allowed direct observation of its behaviour in its natural habitat. It usually rests in underground burrows during the day and hunts at night. It moves between 5 and 16 km (3.1 and 9.9 mi) on average, in search of small rodents and birds, mostly moving in small circles and zig-zagging among bushes and termite mounds. It feeds on 40 different vertebrates and kills up to 14 small animals per night. It can catch birds in flight, jumping up to 1.4 m (4 ft 7 in) high, and also dares to attack mammals and birds much heavier than itself. A female usually gives birth to two kittens during the southern-hemisphere summer between October and March. They are weaned at the age of two months and become independent after four months of age at the latest.

Animals of the same family as a Black-footed cat

Not really brothers and sisters, but from the same biological family (Felidae):

Animals that reach the same age as Black-footed cat

With an average age of 12 years, Black-footed cat are in good companionship of the following animals:

Animals with the same number of babies Black-footed cat

The same number of babies at once (1) are born by:

Weighting as much as Black-footed cat

A fully grown Black-footed cat reaches around 1.36 kg (3 lbs). So do these animals:

Animals as big as a Black-footed cat

Those animals grow as big as a Black-footed cat: