WeWild Africa, in partnership with expert Delecia Gunn and the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA), successfully fitted two male black-footed cats at Loskop Dam Nature Reserve with lightweight GPS collars earlier last year. These collars enable the team to track their movements and gather critical data for conservation and rewilding efforts.

Despite weighing as little as a lion’s paw, black-footed cats are formidable hunters, capable of walking over 35 km in a single night and taking down prey as large as hares or small bustards. During the day, they seek shelter in termite mounds or burrows of springhares, aardvarks, Cape porcupines, and even dens of aardwolves. They prefer open dens surrounded by short grasses where rodents and ground-roosting birds are abundant.

Delecia Gunn, who also oversees the ground hornbill breeding project at Loskop Dam Nature Reserve, leads this challenging program with unmatched expertise. Breeding black-footed cats is notoriously difficult, requiring precise habitat management and a deep understanding of their unique behaviors. In 2024, one of the females had three kittens. 

Thanks to this program, the population of black-footed cats at Loskop Dam Nature Reserve has steadily increased.