23/08/2026
The small cats of the African wilderness 🐾🐈
Lions, leopards and cheetahs may get most of the attention on safari, but sometimes it’s the smaller and more elusive cats that create the biggest excitement.
They’re harder to spot, beautifully adapted to their environments, and seeing one in the wild can turn an ordinary game drive into something very special.
Here are four of our favourites in the order pictured:
1️⃣ Caracal
Those incredible black-tufted ears make the caracal unmistakable. Elegant, powerful and extremely secretive, caracals are skilled hunters capable of spectacular leaps to catch birds in mid-air. Spotting one during a safari is always a special moment.
2️⃣ Serval
Tall legs, huge ears and a beautifully spotted coat the serval is built for hunting in tall grass. Its incredible hearing helps it detect rodents hidden beneath vegetation before launching into one of its characteristic high pounces.
3️⃣ Melanistic Serval 🖤
Now this is an especially exciting sighting. A melanistic serval has unusually dark pigmentation caused by excess melanin, giving its normally golden-and-spotted coat a striking dark appearance. The spots can sometimes still be seen through the black coat in the right light. Seeing one in the wild is something most safari travellers will never experience.
4️⃣ African Wildcat
It may look surprisingly familiar and there’s a reason for that. The African wildcat is closely related to the ancestors of our domestic cats. But don’t let the familiar appearance fool you: this is a completely wild, independent little predator, perfectly adapted to life in Africa’s grasslands and bush.
Safari isn't always about chasing the Big Five. Sometimes the greatest reward is slowing down, watching the grass carefully and finding one of Africa’s smaller hidden predators. 🌿🐾
Which one would you be most excited to spot on safari Caracal, Serval, Melanistic Serval or African Wildcat?
