[imagesource: Urban Caracal Project / Facebook]
The remarkable image you’re looking at above was posted earlier today by the Urban Caracal Project, showing a youngster that has been moving through the Camps Bay, Bantry Bay, and Fresnaye areas.
The same post features two other images, which the project believes are of the same juvenile. Two days ago, it was captured by the SPCA and relocated to Lion’s Head, but has now made its way back.
As the project says, “while it is normal for young wild caracals to move into urban areas to start searching for territories of their own, it is extremely challenging in areas fragmented by urbanisation”.
This juvenile above seems to be pretty comfortable in an urban setting, but anybody who sees a caracal is advised to keep dogs on a leash and maintain a distance of 25 metres.
If you spot an animal in distress, you can contact the Cape of Good Hope SPCA on 021 700 4158/9 during office hours, or 083 326 1604 after hours.
By the way, for those keen on a weekend getaway less than three hours from Cape Town, Cabine du Cap’s aptly named Caracal retreat is available from November.
Back to the cats around the Cape, and if you haven’t yet seen the footage posted this past Friday, how about this guy taking a stroll along Clifton Beach, between Camps Bay and Sea Point?
Another video was posted on Sunday, with the caption:
It’s a necessary fact of life for caracals that live in Table Mountain National Park. The park is extensively fragmented, not only within the Peninsula, but also from other, larger connected areas outside of the City of Cape Town.
The biological instinct of young caracals is to leave the area they were born (disperse) to find unoccupied territories to call their own. But on the Peninsula, there’s essentially nowhere to go, but it takes a lot of exploring to learn that. All urban caracals that survive to adulthood must take the same journey. We hope this caracal stays safe while it learns essential life lessons.
Here’s the footage:
Ultimately, caracals being hit by vehicles is the most common cause of unnatural death around Cape Town, so be mindful of that before trying to get close to an individual that you could spook.
You can keep up to speed with the work the Urban Caracal Project does on Facebook, Instagram, and via their site.
[source:urbancaracalproject]
