{"id":57816,"date":"2017-09-27T14:26:25","date_gmt":"2017-09-27T12:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/video-rooikat-found-in-kenridge-kitchen-20170927\/"},"modified":"2025-03-19T18:28:54","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T16:28:54","slug":"video-rooikat-found-in-kenridge-kitchen-20170927","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/video-rooikat-found-in-kenridge-kitchen-20170927\/","title":{"rendered":"VIDEO: Rooikat found in Kenridge kitchen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It is not every day that a caracal, or rooikat, is found in someone\u2019s kitchen, in a residential neighbourhood, never mind a quiet area such as Kenridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that is exactly what a resident in Suikerbossie Street found last Thursday (21 September) on top of her kitchen cupboard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He called the SPCA and trainee wildlife inspector Rico Pentz was dispatched to solve the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a real challenge for our inspector who had to employ the use of a bird net and some ingenuity coupled with a lot of experience in handling wild animals,\u201d says Belinda Abraham, SPCA spokesperson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The caracal was released into the Tygerberg Nature Reserve the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The caracal was released the next day in the Tygerberg Nature Reserve.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s becoming more and more common as urban sprawl impacts on the natural habitats of many of our wild animals, not just the caracal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLeopard, mongoose, a Cape otter and several species of snakes, as well as bats and birds of prey,  have been removed by the SPCA from residential properties, Abraham says. The leopard was caught in June in Gordon\u2019s Bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese are just some of the animals our Wildlife Unit has rescued this year from within our 11\u2009000 km\u00b2 area of operation \u2013\u2002which includes the Cape metropole and surrounding areas such as Somerset West, Stellenbosch and Malmesbury,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had a really interesting incident in May in Melkbosstrand where a night-time visitor was raiding an outside fridge, much to the dismay of the house\u2019s occupants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt turned out to be a honey badger, which we captured and released far from the temptation of easy pickings,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n