The World’s Kill Rate Champion Lives Here In Utah

We've come to believe that in order to be good at something, you need to be at about 90 percent efficiency.

School has taught us that, but in the animal kingdom, 60 percent is pretty good.

Your average house cat, for instance, has an average kill rate of around 25 percent (that's the rate that a predator is successful when it decides to go after prey -- usually in the wild), Little Luna or Tom isn't the most effective killer in the world.

So what is?

Believe it or not, lions and tigers have a kill rate at only about 25 percent. That means three-fourths of the animals those big cats go after get away.

Leopards are a bit more successful, achieving prey kill rates at 38 percent.

Another fairly big cat -- and one with the reputation of being the fastest animal on the planet -- the cheetah, has a kill rate of 58 percent.

The cheetah's biggest problem is after the kill. Because of its relatively small size in comparison with lions, tigers and even leopards, cheetahs lose about 10 percent of their kills when those larger predators come and take them away.

But the best killers in the cat family hardly look the part at all. The black-footed cat, all of three pounds of fuzzy cuteness (check out these photos on Deseret.com), has a successful kill rate of 60 percent.

According to Discoverwildlife.com, this adorable kitty is a super efficient killer.

"Black-footed cats are astonishingly active and successful nocturnal hunters – one scientist’s observations show they make a hunting attempt every 30 minutes, and are successful 60% of the time, making them one of the world's most efficient predators They eat a wide variety of prey, from gerbils and shrews to small birds and insects, and make 10-14 kills every night."

Utah's own Hogle Zoo recently brought in a black-footed cat named Gaia.

If you'd like to visit Gaia, you can see her at the Hogle Zoo.

“As Gaia settles into her new home in the Small Animal Building, you might notice curtains or barriers around her space. We appreciate your help in keeping noise low while she gets acquainted,” Hogle Zoo officials told Deseret.com.

Sixty percent may be low in school, but a 60-percent killer named Gaia at Hogle Zoo is pretty impressive.

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