Jason Lee McCall and his wife Kate were walking in Kloof when they were blessed with an incredibly rare sighting, a stealthy Caracal!
Kloof, South Africa (09 May 2023) – Caracal are some of our most elusive animal residents so getting the chance to spot one, is always an exciting day. Jason and Kate McCall were out for a walk in a nearby greenbelt when they happened to cross paths with a caracal.
The caracal is a medium-sized wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and India. The mammal is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long tufted ears and long canine teeth. Typically nocturnal, the caracal is highly secretive and difficult to observe. It is territorial and lives mainly alone or in pairs.
It is always exciting catching a glimpse of an animal in the wild. KwaZulu-Natal is teeming with life and chances are, you will spot something when next on your walk but a caracal is still a rare find.
Jason shared that his wife Kate saw the wild feline first and urged him to stop. He said the caracal was cautious but curious and after scoping them out, it walked away, leaving them in awe. They got really lucky because this walk is usually really busy on a Sunday and this moment was captured only by them.
“My wife and I were going to our usual Sunday hike on one of the Public trails near our home – a place called Kloof in eThekwini, KZN.
It’s a green belt forest/wildlife sort of spot and it was quite a popular day – loads of people around
About 10 minutes into the walk my wife, Kate turns to me and says “ya look you probably want to just stop..look there.” And points to a caracal about 10 metres away. It then pulls up towards us before going off.”
We asked Jason how it felt spotting the Caracal, he called it a humbling experience.
“It was humbling! [He] wasn’t scared but awestruck as it’s very timid and shy!”
Take a look at the sighting below.
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