KAROO NEWS - Rose-Nadine Larter, from Molteno, recently was given the option to either adopt two baby Caracal kittens, or to find a new home for them. She contacted Graaff-Reinet Advertiser, and this is the story she told:
"The word “lynx” is a dirty one around these parts. Of course it is! We live in the land of sheep farming, after all, and large cats with hunting fetishes are not our friends.
"Without being hyperbolic, they’re destructive in a way that can ruin livelihoods. Especially when we’re dealing with a Mommy Cat teaching her babies to hunt. Because oftentimes that’s where the most intense destruction comes in. Sheep are unsettlingly easy targets. They seem to have no regard whatsoever for their own self preservation. They make for good practice prey, don’t they? And it spells disaster!
"But like all of the earth’s living creatures, our big and beautiful cats do deserve to be here. So when I got a video message from a friend showing me two very angry caracul kittens I knew I had to figure out how to help. “Do you know someone who would want them?” was the question I was asked. Well, no. And I don’t want to find out who wants them! But I do believe I can figure out who wants the best for them and THAT is the person we need!
"And so I am once again reminded of the powerful good that comes from social media, despite the louder and more obvious penchant for evil. Once upon a time I met a woman who worked on a game farm who I found to be amazing and delightful. Thanks to my “annoying” habit of adding people to my social media platforms despite only knowing them for a short period of time, I still had her contact details. “What do I do?” And so between us we worked out what to do.
"Fortuitous timing meant my folks were visiting me in Molteno for the weekend. Fortuitous character meant that when I asked “Dad will you take two lynx babies to Shamwari for me on your way home?” my dad said yes.
"And so it came to be that Lisa from the Shamwari Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre met my folks and received two very angry kittens from the boot of their car.
"I got a message from Lisa thanking me for helping though I do not feel like I did much. She went on to say that so often these babies are discovered and kept as pets. And then they grow and stop being pet-like. The pleas she receives for help by that stage come heartbreakingly too late. So perhaps we did do much. We gave the babies a chance to live freely and naturally. In a space where their 'destruction' forms part of an ecosystem rather than part of a problem.
"And why am I telling you this story? Well, because it reminded me that good things can happen when we work together. The farmers who brought me the kittens didn’t want to destroy them and I commend them for seeking an alternative solution. Exercising compassion and understanding is never a wasted endeavour. I am proud of us for figuring it out and I am grateful to Shamwari for being a reliable resource in conservation in our area.
"As a finishing thought I hope I may encourage others to use that resource, or others that are similarly available to us. Wild animals do NOT make good pets. Ever! And in the case of preserving the safety of the animals in our care, I do beg of you to consider relocation over the admittedly understandable decision to destroy these creatures who are only acting on their instincts.
"We all deserve to be here. They do too."
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