A caracal sighting is always a special treat for Capetonians. An extra-special sighting is seeing one stroll right past you on the beach in Clifton.
The beautiful caracal was seen enjoying the sunset on Clifton 1st Beach on Thursday, September 3. Steve Leslie was lucky enough to capture it strolling among the rocks. “What a treat it was to see such a rare cat,” Leslie said.”We were sitting having sundowners on Clifton 1st Beach, when my girlfriend said ‘OMG, look at that! That looks like a caracal’. At first I thought, what’s a caracal, as I’m from Canada, then realized it looks like a lynx. The caracal literally just strolled down the beach,” Leslie continued.
“I followed it right up to the rocks. And then we stood there and just looked at each other. The caracal was completely unfazed by my presence. After awhile, it disappeared into the rocks. The caretaker of the building next to us said he saw the caracal in his garden the previous day. Never in 40 years of traveling the world and visiting 90 countries, have I ever seen a cat walk along the beach.”
Pictures: Steve Leslie
