Caracal kitten spotted at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens [photos]

It looks like caracal sightings are becoming more common and more common, especially in Cape Town.

Cape Town etc reports that the Urban Caracal Project spotted a caracal kitten frolicking on the lush green grass of the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens on 22 January 2020.

Caracal spotted in Cape Town

“Such a special sighting! Although the literature says caracals don’t have a strict ‘kitten’ season, we found Cape Peninsula caracals seem to have kittens around October – December, once they’ve reached two years old.

“They have one to four kittens per litter, and once females start reproducing, they tend to have a litter each year. The young ones only start moving around with mom at four to six weeks of age. It’s hard to say how old this kitten is, but it’s may be past six weeks of age and perhaps a bit large to be carrying around,” the Urban Caracal Project said. 

The caracal was seen playing about before an adult female, presumably its mother, picked the baby up and bolted off.

A rare sight

It is reported that the caracal is a medium-sized wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and India. The mammal is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long tufted ears and long canine teeth.

Typically nocturnal, the caracal is highly secretive and difficult to observe. It is territorial and lives mainly alone or in pairs.

It is further reported that caracals prey on a variety of mammals, with the most common being rodents, hares, hyraxes, and small antelope. Unlike the other small African cats, caracals will not hesitate to kill prey larger then themselves, such as adult springbok or young Kudu. Caracals have also been reported on occasion (although this is an exception rather than a rule) to store their kills in trees, as does the leopard.