Caracal sightings are becoming more common, but we are always delighted to catch a glimpse of these majestic red cats.
The Urban Caracal Project spotted a caracal kitten frolicking on the lush green grass of the Kirstenbosch National Botannical Gardens earlier this morning.
“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 organisation said.
The kitten was seen playing about before an adult female, presumably its mother, picked the baby up and bolted off.
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Picture: Margie Murcott/Urban Caracal Project/Facebook