Caracal spottings are becoming more common as urban areas extend and connect with the Mother City’s natural landscapes, but it’s not every day that you see a caracal and her kitten out for a stroll.
Lucky visitor to Cape Town shores, Katrin Baier, says she had always wanted to see a caracal but never dreamed she would be able to see two, a mother and her baby no less.
During her recent visit to Cape Point, Baier managed to capture on camera a mother caracal and her young one patrolling the mountainside.
The video shows a playful little one following in her mother’s footsteps along the grassy slopes and cheerfully hopping about to catch up.
“Caracals start reproducing at 2 years of age, and typically have 2-4 kittens/litter. In the Cape Peninsula, it appears that females tend to have kittens between October-December. Once kittens are born, they stay in a den site carefully selected by momma caracal without leaving for approximately 4 weeks. Mom will leave regularly to hunt though. Between 4-6 weeks of age they start venturing out with mom on her rounds and can be quite mobile at even such a young age,” says the Urban Caracal Project.
Watch the full video here:
6 Fun facts about caracals:
1. Caracals are sometimes referred to as the African lynx or desert lynx.
2. They are nocturnal, which means spotting them during the day is quite unusual.
3. Caracals usually have an average of three babies at a time but they can have up to six.
4. Caracals are good mothers, they look after their young for as long as six months after birth.
5. Their scientific name is Felis Caracal.
6. Caracals can jump up to three metres in the air.
You can keep in touch with the Urban Caracal Project via their Facebook page or check out their website for more information about the work they do.
Picture: Urban Caracal Project