Cat Print / Leopards

Also not the resident expert on this, but that sure is way too small for a leopard print.

Rooikat (I think caracal in English) is relatively common there. Detail on the print is perhaps not clear enough to identify, I'd say 30% chance its a Rooikat. (Aggressive little things if you encounter them during the day although chance is slim to none of that).

EDIT: Scratch all of the above, wifey just pointed out to me its a jackal print.

Your hand must be very LARGE to dwarf a leopard print to that extent. A leopard's pug mark is about 90mm long and 90 wide. I would say it is either a Caracal or a Serval which is about 50mm which is about the size of your print in the image.

Here is a spoor guide.

I came within a meter or two of a rooikat quite high up in the Cathedral little berg catchment. We had descended Thlanyaku pass after two days or heavy, heavy rain. By the time we reached contour path altitude, the rivers were far too wild to cross, so we worked around, higher up, off the path, trying to get down Ndedema. Whilst crossing one of the watersheds off the path I walked towards a waist high bush - using it as a marker in a diagonal ascent of the slope. When I reached the bush, a cat that was about thigh high to me sprang out, made itself as tall as it could, hissed a bit, and then belted off. I think it must have been watching me for some time. It was all too fast for a photo or really to get nervous but I did get a fright. My first thought was leopard, but the ears weren't right.

This is the only time I have seen a cat in the Berg in 100+ hikes. I've noticed that you tend to see many more animals in the little Berg when not on the paths.

Ja, Rooikat as mentioned before. In a really weird place as well, on the spur extending below Scaly peak. We climbed there in May 2010. It behaved extremely territorial, so we assumed a cub was present (in May..should be 5-7 months old). But that high...it felt a funny place to be for a cat, but apparently they are found even on the escarp towards the South and definitely in the Eastern Cape side high up (according to hearsay).

Not in the Berg and not a personal sighting, but an entertaining read about a Leopard encounter in the Du Toits Kloof Mountains in the Western Cape (credit: Gavin Raubenheimer).

www.climbing.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=6887&p=39454