Caracal cat hit on the M3…a re

Caracal cat hit on the M3…a reminder of the need for conservation

Jasper, a young male caracal cat was hit on Cape Town’s M3 and died last week. He had a tracking collar which had been assessing his moves and the data provides interesting insight for conservationists.

Caracal cat hit on the M3…a re

Since civilisation became more urbanised, it has had an impact on wildlife, but we don’t always realise just what kind of impact we are having on the habitats of our furry friends.

Biologist Laurel Serieys from the Cape Leopard Trust has offered some grim insight into the impact our sprawling urban areas are impacting some of the wild cats in the Cape Peninsula.

In April, they trapped a young caracal cat for tagging. He was dubbed Jasper and his movements to see whether any any wildlife corridors that bridge the peninsula to more connected habitat outside of Cape Town exist.

Jasper often crossed the M3, but last week tragedy struck when the cat was hit by a car and died. According to Africa Geographic, Jasper was hit on the southbound lane, trying to cross from the fragmented habitat east of the freeway to travel back towards Table Mountain National Park. The driver reported that Jasper suddenly tried to quickly cross the highly trafficked road, taking him completely by surprise, and collision was unavoidable.

Biologist theorise that Jasper was crossing the M3 in search of his own territory where he would not encounter conflict with older males. The data collected will help biologists understand how best to aid conservation efforts.

This data highlights that the implementation of wildlife corridors in rapidly urbanising cities, even beyond Cape Town, may be critical for the long-term persistence of even those species, such as caracals, that are relatively adaptable to urbanisation. In documenting unfortunate deaths such as Jasper’s, we contribute to the pool of evidence that wildlife corridors, particularly across major roads and through dense urban areas, are critical for wildlife conservation.

If you would like to help, visit the Urban Caracal Project support page.

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