My love for the serendipitous nature of the bush is a feeling that could never be shaken. You can leave camp for each game drive with a plan to find one thing, but you never quite know what else you might find along the way.
A male klipspringer keeps watch high up above the Manyeleti River
We ventured off into the northern reaches of the reserve one afternoon to see if we could see the young hyena cubs that are being denned in a large termite mound not far from the Manyelethi River. The best time to view them is during the last hour before the sun sets, which is when they are most active, soaking up the last few rays. This is also when temperatures are most comfortable for them to be out and about.
These are two young cubs that currently occupy the den, along with a few others. They are very inquisitive and will often walk right up to the vehicle to investigate all the sounds and smells that radiate from a Landrover full of guests.
We decided to go and search the area just to the east of the Manyelethi River for any sign of leopard. This would be a great way to use our time, exploring and looking for any fresh tracks or signs before heading to the hyena den later on in the afternoon.
A view of a section of the Manyelethi River in the height of the dry season.
Without much luck finding any fresh tracks, we decided to start making our way in the direction of the den. As we rounded a corner approaching the riverbed, Tracker Terrence spotted a small, dark figure just off to the right-hand side of the road. We couldn’t believe it at first, but it was an African Wild Cat!
These little cats are very rarely seen. This was my second-ever sighting of one in four years. Sometimes even just being able to see it was tricky because they are small, and can so easily disappear into the grass. Expecting it to be shy of the vehicle and slink off into the thickets, I stopped from a distance so that we could at least get a view of it before it ran off.
She was silently making her way towards a fallen log when a small rustle in the grass caught her attention.
To my surprise, after glancing at us briefly, she simply continued to go about hunting, ignoring us almost entirely. Slowly, we crept forward towards her. I quietly leant over to grab my camera and snap a few pictures.
A very distinguishing feature of an African Wild Cat is the almost orange, translucent ears which you can see here.
After about five minutes of cautiously edging forward and switching the vehicle off multiple times, it got used to our presence and relaxed almost completely. Aside from a bit of difficulty from a photographic point of view, we had an incredible sighting of this rare little cat. We spent about 20 minutes with her. Watching her silently stalk through the grass. She carefully listened for any small rodents and other prey.
My only guess as to why she was rather relaxed around vehicles is that she might have been denned very close to a popular route or junction driven often by rangers at the time. Thus already having had lots of exposure to the presence of a vehicle. Normally, it is far more difficult to habituate wild animals to a vehicle once they are adults.
African Wild Cats are mostly nocturnal, and so seeing one so early into the evening was very special indeed. Because sightings of them are so few and far between, very little is known about them. We presume that they are very similar to leopards in that they are solitary and also strongly territorial, with the males having larger territories that would encompass multiple female territories.
Probably because of their similarities in appearance with domestic cats, discovering one in the wild, its natural habitat is the ultimate small cat sighting for me. It takes us back many thousands of years, to the origins of the domestic cat we see today.
If we were able to identify individuals, similar to how we do with lions or leopards, we’d be afforded valuable insights into their behaviour and habitats. Despite their rarity, I very much look forward to more sightings in future. It was needless to say that this was a huge highlight for both myself and Tracker Terrence.
Exquisite little cat ; you must have loved the afternoon!
Delighted to see these pics of the African Wild Cat
How wonderful that you and your guests not only got to see this rare cat, but that you got to spend so much time with her as well.
Great sighting, Matt! Hope she stays around- I’d love to see her!
Awww wow!!! My nr one on a wishing list! I would die to see a family of African Wild cats! Would you be able to find this cat again and find out if she has kittens? I’ve seen them only in captivity, also Black-Footed cats with kittens… I read avidly about their ecology and behaviour, while Black Footed cats are strictly solitary there are reported and documented cases of African wild cats that have a sort of small family, like domestic cats do when living in colonies… matriarchal families based upon age and relatives, like lionesses and hyenas. Fantastic, you made my day!
What an amazing find, Matt and Terrence! It looks a lot like our family cat when I was a kid.
Beautiful African Wild Cat. The ears are so transparent and the eyes are a lightish green. So glad you could have taken a few photos for us to see them. Very rare and absolutely beautiful.
Wow, spending time with a wild cat is truly an incredible experience, a lifer for most of us. It’s on my bucket list so perhaps this October!
What a lovely sighting of these normally so shy cats! I would have loved seeing that.
Thanks for the blog.
What an amazing sightings. Thanks for sharing this incredible story
What a beautiful little cat. Great sighting Matt and thank you for sharing.
How exciting, Matt. We very briefly spotted an African wild cat at dusk in our 2018 or 2019 visit. It obviously was a special sighting as our ranger/tracker team (Greg P & Equalizer) were almost breathless with excitement, as were we.