Caracal mother and kittens caught on camera

The Cape Leopard Trust shared a series of remarkable photographs that show 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.

In a Facebook post, the Trust described the first kitten, that marched in step with the mother, as “alert”, while the second kitten seemed more curious about the world and lagged behind. In the photograph, it can be seen sniffing one of the trap cameras.

The Trust’s Boland Project was launched in 2010 by Jeannie Hayward and Anita Wilkinson.

Through a large-scale camera trap survey, these researchers sought to:

— record leopard presence and estimate population numbers,

— study leopard diet, activity, movement patterns etc,

— document mammal distribution and relative abundance,

— create public awareness about the biodiversity of the Boland mountains.

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. Others include the African weasel, African wild cat, small and spotted genet, Cape fox, aardwolf, baboon, Cape clawless otter, water mongoose, small and large grey mongoose, striped polecat, honey badger, porcupine, dassie, red rock rabbit, Cape and scrub hare, klipspringer, Cape grysbok, common duiker, grey rhebuck and bushbuck.

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Picture: Facebook/Cape Leopard Trust