World’s deadliest cat is now settling into new home

The world’s deadliest cat is now getting herself all settled into a new cosy home.

A little eight-month-old black-footed cat Gaia was moved to Utah’s Hogle Zoo in the US on 28 December.

Cute new snaps show her snuggling into her small basket and gazing sweetly at the camera.

But still, at only eight months of age, she’s considered to be the deadliest cat on the whole planet.

And you thought the neighbours’ ancient kitty who keeps using your grass as a toilet was a little s**t.

Weighing in at only three pounds, the zoo said Gaia is ‘small in size but large in her feisty personality’.

She arrived at the zoo from the Black-Footed Cat Consortium for breeding purposes and it believes it will ‘significantly contribute to the program’.

There are only 29 of the cats in the Consortium and it’s the smallest species of wild cat in Africa.

And you guessed it, the name comes from having black or dark brown soles or pads.

The very cute looking but very deadly species is known for having amazing survival abilities.

Smithsonian Mag reports that black-footed cats have a hunting success rate of 60 percent.

Hogle Zoo has shared various snaps and clips of little Gaia to social media and honestly, she’s undeniably adorable.

A TikTok video posted by the zoo labelled her ‘one of the smallest and deadliest cats out there’.

But users called her ‘perfect’ and ‘just a baby’, saying they ‘love love love her’.

One even put: “So cute! She’s like the big cat eyes filter in real life!”

And others are desperate to pet her but I’m going to take a wild guess and say that probably wouldn’t be a great idea.

Although they don’t exactly prey on humans, black-footed cats are carnivores and go after rodents, birds, reptiles, insects and spiders.

Gaia is sounding more like that neighbour’s cat by the minute.

They don’t prey on us mere humans but black-footed felines may bite in self-defence.

Hogle Zoo is home to another of the species, named Ryder who they plan on introducing to Gaia.

“Gaia’s introduction to Ryder, the male black-footed cat, is in the cards, but we’ll let these two feline friends get acquainted when Gaia reaches maturity,” it wrote.

The arrival of this little cutie comes four months after Hogle Zoo’s record-breaking black-footed cat, Sanura, died.

She was the oldest to live in an accredited zoo at 18.5 years old and was ‘known for her sassy personality and perfect grumpy cat side eye glare’.

Featured Image Credit: Utah’s Hogle Zoo

Topics: World News, Animals, US News, Cats

Jess Battison

Jess is an Entertainment Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include keeping up with the Twitter girlies, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021 and has previously worked at MyLondon.

@jessbattison_