Although I adore lions, I also have a passion for the smaller predators, in particular caracals. These beautiful felines are highly intelligent and very beautiful. Each of the individual caracals I have worked with have their own personalities and they also do have strong family bonds. A caracal mother will give up her life to protect her young and it is such a tragedy that these beautiful creatures are so relentlessly persecuted by mostly smaller livestock farmers in certain areas of South Africa. The caracal in the photographs below was trapped in such an area; an area where he was not even welcome to catch his natural prey. This particular farmer had no livestock on his property but set up a trap cage to catch caracal and kill them. Fortunately the farm manager did not agree with the wildlife destruction policy of his boss and as hard as his employer worked to trap and kill the animals as hard did he work to phone us to fetch the unfortunate animals before his boss could get to him. Unfortunately he was eventually found out after sending 9 porcupines, 6 caracals and 1 black-backed jackal pup to us and was fired on the spot. We did however assist him to find a new position where he still remains to this day working side by side with his new employer to conserve and protect wild animals. Surprisingly as it may be for some people; farmer and wildlife can coexist in a harmonious manner. Guess where there is a will there is most definitely a way!
Posted on: Wed, 23 Apr 2014 15:41:14 +0000