Caracals and Bobcats as Friends

Miss Caracal’s enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo is at an angle to another wall.

She has a view across the way to another enclosure.

It’s the bobcat enclosure.

The bobcat also spends a fair amount of time looking at Ms. Caracal. I’m not sure if it is some unrequited or unrealized affection, aggression, or simple curiosity of what’s going on over there.

I thought of them when watching a video that ISEC put on their twitter feed, about a bobcat and a caracal who where friends. The bobcat was losing his site, and the caracal took care of him. It was a really sweet story, though unfortunately the bobcat recently passed away (due to old age from what I can tell).

Interspecies friendships are common–I live in a house that contains both homo sapien and felis silvestris catus members. However, when the friendship doesn’t include a human, it seems especially remarkable. Perhaps it is because these animals who’s instinct is to be solitary choose to go against it in the name of friendship. It makes me happy to think that friendship can overcome something so innate.

Sorry for the bad pictures. As noted, the light in the Night Hunter’s exhibit is not the best for photography. To get the shots I wanted, there was only so much that could be done.