Utah’s Hogle Zoo Sends Endangered Black-footed Cat Gaia to Waco’s Cameron Park Zoo for Breeding and Conservation Efforts

Following the Black-footed Cat Consortium’s breeding recommendation to cultivate “genetically diverse, biologically healthy” populations of the feline species in captivity, Utah’s Hogle Zoo announced the transfer of a black-footed cat named Gaia to Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, Texas, marking a significant conservation effort, according to ABC4.

Despite her short stay in Utah, Gaia brought attention to a species that is endangered, with less than 10,000 of them remaining in the wild and Gaia being one of only 30 black-footed cats in accredited zoos. Her 2023 arrival at Hogle Zoo has been hailed as historic, and her transfer, while heartbreaking for Utah residents, is a significant step in conservation efforts as she is expected to breed and add to the genetic pool of this endangered species, according to reports from FOX 13.

Even though black-footed cats like Gaia are small, they are thought to be very good hunters. According to KSLTV, their 60% hunting success rate surpasses that of larger predators like tigers and lions, which are said to have less than 30% hunting success rates.

Their conservation status has been listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List since 2002, indicating that without changes to the circumstances that threaten their existence, species like Gaia’s are at risk of disappearing from the landscape entirely. This is the kind of risk that these concerted conservation efforts aim to mitigate. As a result, the plight of black-footed cats like Gaia is not related to their prowess as predators but rather to the various threats they face in the wild.

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