Urban Caracal Project, Cape Town, South Africa

07/06/2026

03/06/2026

We have had several reports of seeing multiple caracals recently. It seems that at this time of year, many juvenile caracals are tagging along with their mothers.

Caracal kittens spend their first few weeks hidden in a safe den. We found that 1 - 3 primary dens are used while kittens are very small. Once the kittens grow up a little, short-term auxiliary dens are used, and den sites can change quite often. Now that this year’s kittens are bigger, they are becoming more visible as they follow mom around her territory while learning to hunt and avoid threats.

If you see a young caracal on its own, its mother is likely nearby. Remember to respect wildlife. Do not disturb the kitten and maintain and distance of at least 25m.

Read more about caracal denning and maternal behaviour here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42991-024-00429-z

📸 Anya Adendorff (2026)

26/05/2026

Did you know that city growth is quietly threatening the Cape Peninsula’s caracals? 🏙️ In our latest scientific paper we looked at the population genetics of caracals living in the Cape Peninsula and around Cape Town, as well as in the Central Karoo and Namaqualand.

As Cape Town has expanded, these wild cats’ populations have become cut off from one another by Cape Town’s urban matrix. The result? The genetic diversity across multiple metrics (heterozygosity and allelic richness shown here) in Cape Peninsula caracals is lower than that observed in populations outside of Cape Town and in the Greater Cape Town region. 🧬 Relatedness among the Cape Peninsula’s caracals is also twice as high as seen in the other populations (➡️ swipe to see graph). The isolated Cape Peninsula population is becoming more vulnerable, less resilient, and less able to adapt to future threats.

Importantly, this has happened quickly. Cities don’t need thousands of years to impact wildlife - the genetic effects of Cape Town’s urban sprawl are already detectable today.

Caracals are one of Africa’s most adaptable carnivores, yet even they are struggling to cope with the pace of urban expansion. It’s a reminder that the animals living alongside us in and around our cities need us to think carefully about how we grow and develop.
Solutions exist: wildlife-friendly road crossings, green corridors, and conservation planning that accounts for animal movement. These measures take time to implement but awareness is the first step.

Read the full paper here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10592-026-01776-9 📑

📸 Michael McSweeney

21/05/2026

What do you see in your headlights? ⚡️

If it’s a reflective silhouette, you’re in caracal territory 🐱✨

These artworks mark known crossing points: slow down, stay alert, and spread the word.

Let’s keep Cape Town wild.



12/05/2026

There’s a caracal in my neighbourhood!

We often get reports of caracals in suburban gardens and greenbelts. This is not unusual - they are an adaptable species trying to use the remaining available green space around the city to connect up territories and find food.

What can we do to coexist with caracals?

1. First of all, recognise how lucky you are to have a native predator nearby! Appreciate it. In a world that is increasingly developed and built-up, this is something that is getting rarer.

2. Observe from a distance - do not disturb or attempt to feed caracals. They are wild animals and only hunt live prey.

3. Keep dogs on leads, as they attack and kill caracals. Remember to also vaccinate and pick up after your dogs, as they can spread disease to local wildlife.

4. Keep your domestic cats indoors or inside an enclosed “catio”. Caracals mainly eat wild prey (vlei rats, Guinea fowl and Egyptian geese are most common). However, they are opportunistic predators and do occasionally kill domestic cats. While it might seem strange to us that cats hunt cats, this is completely normal behaviour in the wild. To be absolutely sure your pets are safe (including from vehicle collisions and disease risks!), it is best to keep them inside. Similarly, keep livestock in predator-proof enclosures.

5. Do not use rat poison! These highly toxic poisons are often eaten by animals that are not the target and make their way up the food chain into predators.

6. Report your sightings to our website! This is very useful information for our research: https://www.urbancaracal.org/report-sightings-roadkill

06/05/2026

Your caracal sightings matter!

Amazingly, you have reported over 1,500 sightings to us since 2015! 🆕 In a recent paper led by Masters student Jade Simoen we compared these public sightings data with caracal movement data from GPS collars.

Most caracal sightings were reported in the morning (6 - 7am) or evening (5 - 6pm) between March and May, usually while walking or driving.

Sightings were more common in certain areas (see the map). 🗺️ Using data from both approaches, we compared models of caracal habitat use. We found that the two models had good agreement: they both showed caracals use greener areas closer to the urban edge, the coast and wetlands.

This work highlights the power of “participatory science” (also known as citizen science), where members of the public record species sightings to help fill knowledge gaps. In cities, where people and wildlife increasingly share landscapes, communities can become the “eyes and ears” that help us understand how species persist in rapidly changing environments.

Thank you to everyone who reached out about seeing a caracal! Please keep sending us your sightings! You can fill in the form on our website: http://www.urbancaracal.org/report-sightings-roadkill

The full article is free to read here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11252-026-01905-9

📸 Gilbert Reinhardt

05/05/2026

Keep your eyes peeled 👀

Cape Town drivers: Look out over the next few weeks… there may be some shiny new artworks coming your way! ⚡️

Remember, these are not just pretty signs - they mark the places where caracals (and other wildlife) cross the road and where we need to ⚠️

EveryCaracalCounts

24/03/2026

We love this series of photos taken by Hinesh Patel late last year in the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens… they show a fascinating interaction between a protective mother spotted eagle owl and a caracal 🦉🐱

Hinesh describes “Out of nowhere, the mother owl let out the strangest, sharpest call, nothing like her usual sounds. It was a warning, a desperate alert! A caracal was lurking! In an instant, she transformed from a calm, watchful parent into a fierce guardian, eyes blazing, wings tense, calling out to her chick. By pure luck, the caracal didn’t spot the little one and slinked away, but not before getting a very firm clap from mama owl!”

What an incredible observation! And the mother owl did have some cause for concern: caracals do occasionally take raptors - we have records of them successfully hunting rock kestrels, spotted eagle owls, and jackal buzzards. Remember to let us know about your caracal sightings by filling in our website form 📲

17/03/2026

Caracal spotted with breakfast at Zeekoevlei a few weeks ago… what do you think s/he’s caught? Let us know below 😸

Thanks to Luke Summers for reporting and Josh Giles for the photo! 📸

10/03/2026

Vehicle collisions are the main cause of death for Cape Peninsula caracals. The Urban Caracal Project collaborated with to place these reflective signs in the major road-crossing hotspots, like this one on Orpen Road in Tokai.

If you see a sign, you are in a road-crossing area. SLOW DOWN and keep your eyes open for wildlife! Please spread the word about what these artworks mean. ⚡️