Talk:Black-footed cat

"Pierces its jugular"

How does a squitty little cat pierce the jugular of a giraffe? --OhNoPeedyPeebles (talk) 17:55, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

shrugs But notice the preface to the claim: "In the tales of the San (indigenous hunter-gatherers of the Kalahari)..." - UtherSRG (talk) 17:58, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Reference

Hi ! I'm a contributor of the French Wikipedia and I'm trying to improve the french version of Black-footed cat which is based on this article, and I'm searching references for this sentence : "Specimens with characteristics of both subspecies are found close to Kimberley, central South Africa, where these distinctions break down." Please contact me if you have it, Abujoy —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.135.202.91 (talk) 21:45, 17 August 2008 (UTC)

The reference, where it is stated that black-footed cats with characteristics of both "subspecies" come together in the Kimberley region, South Africa is:

Olbricht, G. & Sliwa, A. 1997. In situ and ex situ observations and management of Black-footed cats Felis nigripes. International Zoo Yearbook 35: 81-89. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.14.211.25 (talk) 08:49, 12 September 2009 (UTC)

Thank you! --Abujoy (talk) 20:17, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

Length vs weight?

There is some confusion about the body length of this cat. Some sources say it is up to 63 cm. (about 2 feet) in length _excluding the tail_, which seems large given it weighs only up to 2 kg or about 4 pounds. (A housecat with a 2ft body might weigh 14 pounds.) This wikipedia article doesn't say whether the 63 cm figure includes the tail or not. Could somebody check and clarify? Thanks!

Karlchwe (talk) 21:48, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

63m ? --OhNoPeedyPeebles (talk) 15:29, 8 August 2011 (UTC)

resident

The word resident appears three times, and its meaning is not obvious. Does it mean a cat that has successfully claimed a territory, in contrast to a nomad? —Tamfang (talk) 01:42, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

Wondering...

"This exaggeration is intended to emphasize the bravery and tenacity of the animal. The only times this behavior differs is when ... they are a female with dependent kittens."

Leaving aside the questionable grammar: Why would a behavior of bravery and tenacity differ in a female with kittens, of all things? The females of most animals are most fierce and brave when they have their young with them. Why would that be different here?

Or is this sentence talking about the tender loving care mommy gives to her kittens? It should say so then.

Another thing that makes me wonder are the threats listed in the article: bushmeat poaching, persecution, traffic accidents, predation by domestic animals, indiscriminate predator poisoning etc..

One threat I was surprised not to find is crossbreeding with house cats or feral cats, which, to the best of my knowledge, poses a great threat to many wild cat species. Is that in fact not a problem for this cat? Or is that just not in the article due to a lack of sources? --93.212.237.194 (talk) 18:05, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

The information is well referenced in the article itself, with some sources even available online. Why don't you read them yourself to find the answers ? -- BhagyaMani (talk) 07:26, 7 May 2017 (UTC)

Now that's what I call a helpful answer. I asked two questions, neither of which is answered in the article or in any references accessible to me.

From the two sources referencing the sentence about the behavior, Sliwa is nowhere to be found online, and Sunquist - which is in fact published on Google Books - says absolutely nothing about the change in behavior described in that sentence.

Concerning my second question (possible crossbreeding), there is no information whatsoever in the article, so what references are you talking about? --93.212.240.155 (talk) 20:11, 7 May 2017 (UTC)

Nickname

Does the name- small spotted cat has any ref to back it up? South American cat- Oncilla has a similar nickname- little spotted cat. If both are confirmed then maybe use the "not to be confused with" tag at the top of both the pages? Ishan87 (talk) 22:06, 23 September 2022 (UTC)

The alternative name has been bolded because a redirect page with that name was created in 2014. This name does have a ref, but a rather old one more than 2 decades old. This name was foremost used in zoos, but people working in the field have been unilaterally using the name black-footed cat since at least the 90s. – BhagyaMani (talk) 07:04, 24 September 2022 (UTC)

Lead section related issues

The lead sections says "and predation by domestic dogs and cats.", but this statement does not cite any sources and is not featured in a proper section. This is also applies to "grassland savannas" (the word "grassland" is mentioned only in the lead section). --NGC 54 (talk｜contribs) 20:02, 22 January 2023 (UTC)

@BhagyaMani: I ping you because I saw that you have added "and predation by domestic animals" in the lead section via this edit. --NGC 54 (talk｜contribs) 13:44, 23 January 2023 (UTC)

It also applies to "arid steppes". --NGC 54 (talk｜contribs) 03:19, 30 January 2023 (UTC)

"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." – Another info featured exclusively in the lead section.

"mostly moving in small circles and zig-zagging among bushes" – The same.

"A female usually gives birth to two kittens during the Southern Hemisphere summer between October and March" – Too. --NGC 54 (talk｜contribs) 03:25, 30 January 2023 (UTC)

Shortly before finishing my translation, I realized that this info

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 herding dogs.

are found only in the lead section. --NGC 54 (talk｜contribs) 20:12, 19 February 2023 (UTC)