'Looks Can Be Deceiving': Utah Zoo Welcomes Tiny Cat That's One Of The World's Deadliest

One of the newest residents at a Utah Zoo is so cute it could kill, literally.

Utah’s Hogle Zoo welcomed Gaia, an eight-month-old black-footed cat, last month as it introduced a furry friend that it described as “small in size but large in her feisty personality.”

The species is native to Africa, among the smallest in the world and – according to Smithsonian magazine – it’s one of the deadliest cats on the planet with the ability to capture “more prey in a single night than a leopard does in six months.”

“They have a reputation for being a very fierce cat, pound for pound,” said Bob Cisneros, the zoo’s associate director of animal care, in an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune.

Gaia, who weighs less than three pounds, comes from a species of successful hunters.

Black-footed cats have a hunting success rate of over 60%, Cisneros said.

The cats also have accelerated metabolisms so they’re “constantly hunting”, said Luke Hunter, Chief Conservation Officer at the wildcat conservation organization Panthera, in a 2018 interview with Live Science.

They can kill up to 14 rodents or small birds in a single night and are “three times as successful” at killing compared to lions, he said.

Gaia arrived at the Salt Lake City-based zoo on a breeding recommendation from the Black-footed Cat Consortium, according to the zoo’s Facebook page.

The zoo defined the new resident’s arrival as “an important step in the conservation of her species,” noting that there’s 29 black-footed cats in the consortium.

Ryder, a male black-footed cat, also resides at the zoo. The zoo said the introduction of the two cats is “in the cards” but noted that they’ll get “acquainted when Gaia reaches maturity.”

Utah’s Hogle Zoo, in a Facebook post over the weekend, shared a video of the furry new arrival and declared that she boasts “the biggest eyes you’ve ever seen.

“She may look adorable, but looks can be deceiving,” the zoo said.