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You tell me....

@ eagle
Can you tell me the colour of the Cat, was it yellowisch almost reddisch?did the cat have black strips and dots or just stripes. Describe it a little bit that would be great.

Best Regards

Hi Malealea,

I must have missed your post somewhere last year (happy 2010 to you) but let me quickly answer it. I actually saw it in the pass by so I can't give distinctive info. As I looked up through the car window I looked directly in it's eyes. I remember it sitting in a small open sandy clearing, facing our direction. It was a dark cat and looked very small indeed. I can't tell you if I saw spots or stripes. In such short pass by (moving) spots might become stripes. And it really inhabited the look of a domestic cat. If you are wondering whether I might mistake it with an african wild cat, looking it up in our mammal guides the cat I saw was really very dark furred and not as light as the african wild cat. Unfortunately, by the time SO had reversed back to the scene kitty was gone and I very dissapointed, though a friend we were travelling with said that he saw some quick movement going back into the bushes/veld but could not see what it was. He just saw the movement. This is unfortunately all I can offer but really hope to see some small spotted cat pictures from out Kruger soon. That would really be great!

hi eagel

AWC differ in colour there s a rule if the habitat is very wet they got more silver/blue. AWC in dessert haven´t got a bright coulur, sometimes the stomack is brown but the main coulour ist always grey. Anyway the legs, were they long or short. AWC look like a domestic cat but they have a "higher clearence"(I have to describe it abit because Englisch ist not my mother Tounge! theses cats are less heawier then AWC and shorter, the main coulour is yellow. I can´t tell you what you see the only thing I can do is to help, to figure out the differences. wait aminute as afr as I know Small spotted cats do not occur in Kruger. If this is the case then you have senn an AWC.

Best Regards

Malealae

Hi, have there been any more sightings?

As far as I know not. Because it will not there habitat. Maybe there are some border crossers from Zimbabwr and Botuana but no regular sightings.

For what it’s worth, I have an uncle who has been involved all his life with wildlife, helping Ian Player and Nick Steele in rhino capture and also working + 30 years in the “wilds” of northern Swaziland where he saw serval on almost a daily (nightly!) basis. He has also spent a lot of time in several of the game reserves in other areas of Africa. So his credentials are good. Anyway, two years ago he claimed that he saw a “small spotted cat” on the S100 in Kruger. True or not, I can’t judge. And as to whether he’s getting a bit long in the tooth, I’m not sure, but that’s what he said he saw.

The thing with Black fot cat ist that they are very silent. They behave secretly may be they occur in Kruger without knowing it. Maybe it is the same Story with the BRown Hayena in Kruger....