However, numerous human activities increase the quantity of, and rate at which, metals are released into the environment. Most metals occur naturally in the Earth’s crust. Metallic chemical elements are some of the most toxic and well-studied of these environmental chemical pollutants. Cities and rapidly developing countries are disproportionately affected because they are characterised by high levels of both industrial and human activity. Metal pollutants are a global biodiversity threatĬhemical pollution is a growing global concern. This raises important environmental concerns for all the city’s residents - both wildlife and human.
Exposure to these metals, including aluminium, arsenic, cadmium, copper, mercury and lead, most likely occurs via the prey species that caracals consume. To do this, we tested the blood of caracals in Cape Town and found worryingly high numbers of different metal pollutants present. Indeed, it can be downright dangerous thanks to, among other issues, the increasing presence of environmental pollutants.Īs conservation biologists, we are interested in how caracals become exposed to the multitude of pollutants associated with city-living. It aims to better understand the effects of urbanisation on the city’s wildlife and to discover some of the secrets of how they are able to survive in this challenging landscape.īut surviving in a rapidly expanding city isn’t easy. The Urban Caracal Project, a research and education initiative based at the University of Cape Town’s Institute for Wildlife and Communities in Africa, is dedicated to studying Cape Town’s caracal population. Having survived the eradication of larger carnivores like the Cape leopard and lion, this highly adaptable, medium-sized wild cat is now Cape Town’s apex wildlife predator. Hikers on Table Mountain’s trails and greenbelts may have briefly spotted one of these elusive cats with their reddish-brown coat and tufted ears before they disappeared into the dense vegetation. So it is truly remarkable that the city is still home to a population of between 60 and 100 wild caracals.
Most of its residents live in the Cape Metropolitan Area. In the country’s Western Cape province, some 90 per cent of the population is urbanised. By 2050, eight in 10 people will live in urban areas, significantly increasing the demands on basic infrastructure development and associated services.
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