Caracals of Cape Town have always been a sight to behold. With their regal personas and long, tufted ears, these elusive wildcats have everyone entranced whenever they’re spotted.
The shy caracal, or rooikat, is a medium-sized rufous-fawn cat with distinctive tufted black ears, a creamy underbelly with faded orange spots, and long legs. Its face has exquisite markings and light green to orange eyes.
Sadly (for us), though, it seems like forever and a day ago that we’ve been graced with a sighting of the Mother City’s favourite wildcat.
Also read: Look: Lucky encounters in Cape Point bring frame-worthy caracal snaps
Thankfully, an eagle-eyed Sonia Bowers recently spotted a caracal lounging about at the Tokai Forest picnic site and reported it to the Urban Caracal Project, who shared it on their Facebook page for us to grab a necessary dose of Vitamin C…aracal.
We’re not sure what’s more impressive – that Bowers could spot this reclining caracal camouflaged against the forest floor, or that she managed to capture this shot while on horseback!
Take a look:

Explore Cape Town and its surroundings with these incredible deals on cars for under R100 000. Find car listings here.
A recent report from the Urban Caracal Project suggests that the low frequency of caracal sightings may be due to wildlife populations being increasingly fragmented by urbanisation.
‘We found low levels of migration of caracal individuals from the Greater Cape Town area into the Cape Peninsula for the past 75 years, but with increasing isolation over the past 13 years or so, corresponding with rapid urban development in Cape Town,’ says the project.
‘We estimated there to be only approximately 28 breeding caracals in the Cape Peninsula, and in comparison to the other study areas, high levels of inbreeding consistent with a small, isolated population.’
According to the NPO, the Cape Peninsula is isolated by more than 800 km² of City of Cape Town development and it’s estimated that there are roughly only 50 to 80 caracals present. These small and isolated populations often face an elevated risk of extinction, partly as a result of inbreeding and loss of genetic diversity.

In the study, the project examined extinction risk due to inbreeding by sequencing the genomes of nine caracals in the Cape Peninsula along with seven caracals from the Greater Cape Town area, ten from the Central Karoo and five from Namaqualand.
‘We found that approximately only one breeding migrant enters the population every generation (three years) and that if migration rates remain the same in the future, the population is expected to decline,’ the Urban Caracal Project added.
‘Importantly, the extinction risk of the population is greatly elevated if migration rates decrease (resulting from increased urban growth around the Cape Peninsula), and levels of human-associated sources of morality, such as vehicle collisions, disease, pesticide exposure, domestic dog attacks and lethal management, increase.’
You can read the full academic paper here.
The Urban Caracal Project aims to protect biodiversity through research and conservation. It operates through the Institute for Communities and Wildlife in Africa (iCWild) at the University of Cape Town.
Ways to support the project:
- Please immediately report all road kill caracals in the Cape Town area (i.e. the Peninsula and outer suburbs) to Dr Gabriella Leighton at [email protected] or call 079 837 8814.
- The project relies exclusively on donations and grant support that has funded everything from GPS collars and caracal tracking efforts, genetic analyses, supplies, pesticide and disease testing, health assessments, and many more!
- Report caracal sightings here.
Cape {town} Etc discount: Looking for things to do in the city, at half the price? Get exclusive offers here.
Also read:
Death of caracal Hope highlights the peril dogs can pose to wildlife
Picture: Sonia Bowers / Urban Caracal Project, Cape Town, South Africa / Facebook