One of these little but fierce wild cats is Naia, a member of a rare African wild cat species called the black-footed cats.

Very little is known about the ecology and behavior of the rusty-spotted cat in the wild. Captive ones are mostly nocturnal.

They are Africa's smallest cat, and the deadliest of all. Hour after hour we slowly drove across South Africa's vast Karoo, searching for a tiny black-footed cat - that the scientists call Gyra.

Many of you have asked why some of the stars of the BBC’s Big Cats series can be seen wearing radio collars, including the black-footed cat called Gyra that features in episode two. We asked Dr ...