It appears that humans are not the only ones enjoying some quality family time together this festive season. A family of caracals were recently spotted making their way through Piketberg.
This is the second sighting of a family of caracals in a matter of weeks. In late November, the Cape Leopard Trust shared a series of remarkable photographs that showed three caracals trotting across a mountain.
In the sequence of snaps, which were captured by the Trust’s Boland camera trap survey near the mountains in Rawsonville in the Breede River Valley, a mother caracal and her two kittens can be seen.
Now, another family has ventured out to claim some of the spotlight. The Cape Leopard Trust shared new images of a mother and her two inquisitive baby rooikats exploring their Piketberg survey area.
“Two weeks ago, we shared a very popular image of a mom caracal with her two kittens from the Boland mountains. Apparently, the caracals further north also saw this and did not want to be upstaged – so here we have another fantastic set of rooikat images from our Cape Leopard Trust Piketberg survey area,” wrote the Trust on Facebook.
The Trust’s Boland Project was launched in 2010 by Jeannie Hayward and Anita Wilkinson. Over the last 10 years, the researchers have photographed more than 60 adult and sub-adult leopards in the Boland area. Caracals are one of 24 other mammal species that have been spotted in the area.
Picture: Facebook / Cape Leopard Trust