“Rupa was the sweetest caracal ever. She lived with Sierra, who
loved her dearly but really disliked humans. Carolyn Clendenin and I
used to sit with Rupa and Sierra quite a bit. I used to read to them
but found that it seemed to stress Sierra out if I carried anything in my hands. So,
I would sit on the ground and just talk nonsense to both of them. For
a long time, Sierra would growl at me. But, he got to the point where he would
just sit and look at me, not growling but still not trusting. Rupa would
come over to the side of the enclosure and rub on the fence and talk to us
and then just lay down to listen to us talking. Sierra never did learn
to trust any of us, but I felt honored when he would just sit and listen without
growling. After we lost Sierra, Rupa was still her sweet self, I remember
going into her enclosure to pull the burr plants with Anissa and Carolyn and
she came over to us and Anissa started saying “Oh no, here she comes,
watch out.” She just came near us, walked around us and went and
laid back down, talking the whole time. I know that Carolyn and I really
miss the conversations with Rupa and her voice calling to us when we were near. She
truly was the sweetest girl”….Becky, Senior Volunteer Keeper
From Rupa's Bio Page
Female Caracal
Date of Birth: 1992
Rupa came to Big Cat Rescue on 1/11/94 as a hand raised pet. Her owner had discovered he had an incurable illness and could no longer care for his cats. She was very loving, but she is hyperactive and has all of her claws and teeth. She now shares a 1200 square foot Cat-A-Tat with Sierra, who has been neutered.