Research overview: disease and pathogen exposure in urban-edge caracals

Living alongside domestic cats, dogs and people exposes Cape Town caracals to pathogens and parasites that can affect their health. This overview synthesises serological and disease-ecology research on exposure to feline and other pathogens, the role of contact with domestic animals and human-associated prey, and the interaction of disease with toxicant-driven immune stress. It examines how proximity to dense settlement raises spillover risk and how disease combines with road mortality and poisoning as cumulative urban threats. The synthesis frames disease surveillance as an important, often overlooked component of conserving a wild felid embedded in an African urban landscape.