Show us your servals, caracals and other small cats...

[Kitsafari]

just that caracal on the kill would have made the trip but you had four sightings! totally jealous. 

 

awesome photos of one of the most beautiful small wild cats in the world! 

 

[Peter Connan]

Well, @africaaddict, you certainly made the best possible use of the opportunity!

 

Magnificent.

[Caracal]

What an amazing sighting! I would never imagined that a caracal would tackle an adult Thompsons Gazelle.

 

Superb photos @africaaddict.

 

I've waited longer than 36 years but now I have renewed hope that maybe one day......?!

[pomkiwi]

My first caracal sighting

 

In the Madikwe this weekend and a call came that there was a caracal moving steadily through open terrain.

 

He or she (although something this pretty can only be a female surely?) was walking through the grass in a fixed direction. She seemed oblivious of the vehicles and sat and groomed herself in a way reminiscent of a domestic cat.

 

I now think I've found my new favourite cat 

 

 

These taken with a Nikon D500, 80-400mm lens @ 400mm, f/5.6, 1/320sec, ISO 100.  

Sometimes I feel very, very lucky...

 

[Game Warden]

Lucky indeed @pomkiwi - lovely...

[KI-NRT]

Spotted during a night drive at Selinda in Sept. 2018.

 

Still have yet to see a Caracal in the wild.

 

 

 

[Game Warden]

We need some more small cats in this topic... So who can oblige?

 

Matt

[BieneMaja]

I can Even with a very rare one - a melanistic serval. He was very cooperative, stayed with us for a while and caught a mouse!

 

 

 

 

[Game Warden]

Great sequence @BieneMaja  

 

Matt

[Soukous]

Serval

Hwange NP. May 2019

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BieneMaja]

Thank you, Matt!

 

Got some bonus material as well One more shot of the serval jumping into the other direction... It's away from us, but I love that you can see the spots as the light is on the serval.

 

[BieneMaja]

Oh and I forgot to mention: all these photos have been taken in the Serengeti in March 2020

[Soukous]

Jungle Cat

Corbett Tiger Reserve, India. Feb 2018

 

 

[inyathi]

 

Just because I haven't added any shots before, here are some servals taken in Zakouma National Park in Chad where these cats are extremely common. 

 

Serval Zakouma National Park in Chad by inyathi, on Flickr

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 1, 2020 by inyathi

[Sebastian Kennerknecht]

Incredible photos everyone. Very inspiring. Keep them coming! I just joined this incredible community today, and wild cats are my true love so I loved going through the photos!

[campsafari2015]

On 2/24/2017 at 12:03 AM, optig said:

I just saw a serval for only the second time in a place where one would least expect to see one-Nairobi national park. I was quite surprised.

Before I visited in 2017, I read that they have an unusually healthy population there! I too saw a serval there. Managed to see it coming to the waterhole for a drink during breakfast at the hotel, but only managed the worst photo ever before it had gone off again. 

[campsafari2015]

I consider myself to be very lucky! I saw a caracal and an african wildcat on our first safari and a serval on the second. Unfortunately, I'm 1/3 for decent pictures

 

This african wildcat scavenged a dead hornbill off the grill of someone's RV at a campground in Kruger (Satara, maybe?).

[Sebastian Kennerknecht]

So inspiring going through this gallery, I can only say that again and again. Here is a Black-footed cat photo to add one more species to this gallery. Taken in Benfontein Nature Reserve in South Africa in 2018. I remotely triggered the camera from about 50 meters away when this cat emerged from its daytime den to start its hunting foray at night.

 

Technical details: Canon t6i, 10-22mm lens, four flashes. 1/200th, f/14. ISO 800.

[JPS]

On 12/8/2011 at 2:29 AM, Wild Dogger said:

I don´t know, if a Large-spotted Genet counts to cats:

Not really but nice pic ;-)

Quote

No unfortunately it does not....but it is a nice pic  ;-)

Not 

Edited August 18, 2020 by JPS

[JPS]

We found this beauty in South Africa  Kgalagadi national park March 2020 close at rooiputs camp, to be more specific between kijkij and tierkop

 

 

Edited August 19, 2020 by JPS

[Caracal]

Stunning photos @JPS - what a sighting! When was it?

 

[JPS]

2 hours ago, Caracal said:

Stunning photos @JPS - what a sighting! When was it?

 

March 2020

[JPS]

On 3/17/2016 at 6:19 AM, Hammer_of_the_Gods said:

Taken in the Serengeti (Namiri Plains).

Very nice picture!

 

[TonyQ]

@JPS beautiful Caracal, beautiful photos!

[africaaddict]

A black cat crossed my path!............a rare melanistic Black Serval

 

On my last Serengeti assignment (Aug '19) I had the privilege to witness and document a rare melanistic male Black Serval, currently believed to be one of only 4 in all of Africa.
For me a dream sighting!
It's difficult at the best of times to locate your normal "garden variety" Serval so finding this small cat was never going to be a simple task, and one I specifically spent 3 weeks tracking.
Such a rare and special treat to witness this magical small predator hunting, gotta love those piercing golden eyes!

 

Have been most fortunate to have these images published recently in a few Wildlife magazines.

 

Clearly this beautiful male is comfortable with vehicles as he went about his business including hunting without a care for surrounding vehicles, and just thankful he's in an area where that was sufficiently  limited,

can only imagine what a "circus" he'd create (pre CoVid)  if this was in Seronera or dare I say the Mara.

"Manja" was first spotted by guide and naturalist *Manja* of @asiliaafrica and has since adopted his name!
With an incredibly high concentration of cats in the area, Manja is so far faring well in avoiding predators and threats.
Will be back here again in March (granted our beloved Govt opens up our international borders ) for Gnu calving and hopeful "Manja" will make an appearance again.

 

Namiri Plains, Eastern Serengeti- TZ

Nikon D5
Nikkor 180-400E PF FL VR +1.4tc
f/5.6
1/1250s
ISO6400 @560mm.

 

 

 

Nikon D5
Nikkor 180-400E PF FL VR +1.4tc
f/5.6
1/640s
ISO3200 @450mm.

 

 

 

 

Nikon D5
Nikkor 180-400E PF FL VR
f/5.6
1/1000s
ISO11400 @400mm.

 

 

 

 

 

Nikon D5
Nikkor 180-400E PF FL VR
f/5.6
1/640s
ISO7200 @250mm.

 

 

 

 

Nikon D5
Nikkor 180-400E PF FL VR
f/5.6
1/1000s
ISO9000 @400mm.

 

 

 

 

 

Nikon D5
Nikkor 180-400E PF FL VR
f/6.3
1/2000s
ISO720 @250mm.

 

 

 

Cheers
Marc

Edited September 23, 2020 by africaaddict