Setting them free

We have had quite a few interesting releases this year in 2025, but there are four that we wanted to share with you

We raised and released four female caracals this year, all of them orphaned. They came to us as tiny kittens that should have been raised by their mothers, taught to hunt by their mothers and taught to survive without their mothers, but these four never got that chance. They came to us from 4 different areas in the Western Cape over a period of 3 months.

We do our best to educate people how to live with predators in their areas and how to keep their domestic and farm animals protected against attacks and loss. However we can’t educate those that don’t want to be educated or those that perhaps don’t have the opportunities to be educated, so when education fails us we turn to conservation. We raise, rehabilitate and release these cats so that they can go on to live a life that they were meant to live, in the wild, where they belong.

Sometimes they can’t be released in the same area they came from for several reasons, so we work with Cape Nature to make sure they are released in a safe area where they can hunt and survive away from livestock and humans. And thankfully they assisted us with the safe release of these four girls.

Sometimes people find a caracal kitten under some bushes where more often than not the mother has left the kitten/kittens so she can go hunt. If you do happen to find these kittens, please notify Cape Nature, Tenikwa or another local wildlife centre or authority so that they can assess whether the kitten has been orphaned or not. They do not make good pets.

A caracal kitten is very aggressive and is actually one of the easier cats to rehabilitate in the right rehabilitation environment due to their natural aggression, however, the challenge is retaining their natural fear of humans whilst in rehabilitation. It is against the law to keep any indigenous wildlife without the correct permit from your local authority.

Helping wildlife is sometimes as easy as leaving wildlife where they belong. If you have concerns we are always here to advise, or find someone who will be able to help you.
Luckily these four girls got to grow up and be released ….. and one day might become mothers themselves. We can only hope that they get to raise their own babies the way they should have been raised.