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Watch World First As ‘Genet Jackson’ Spotted Riding A Black Rhino [Video]

By Anne Sewell
Published on: 08:14 PST, Jul 22, 2015

Affectionately dubbed “Genet Jackson,” a small genet cat has been caught in several amazing photos and on video footage, hitching a ride on the back of an endangered black rhino in South Africa.

It happened in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and initially, photos were captured of the cat riding a buffalo and a white rhino back in 2014. The folks at Wildlife ACT were fascinated by the images and wanted to see and know more about the unique trait revealed by the genet wild cat, and gave the little spotted cat the name “Genet Jackson.”

They teamed up with Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, together with sponsors Rhino Africa, to capture the very same genet cat on video, attempting to hitchhike on the back of an endangered black rhino.

They said in a recent blog post that they have been successful and, using camera traps, they managed to capture many incidents of the very same cat riding a variety of large herbivores.

As more people became aware of the genet’s actions, they wondered and theorized why “Genet Jackson” was acting in this highly unusual way. Apparently, some believed the cat was trying to gain a height advantage while hunting. Others suggested that maybe the cat was just lazy and catching a ride.

According to Wildlife ACT, they have learned over the years to never assume they know exactly what is going on in the bush, so it could have been any of the suggested scenarios.

Eventually, they were lucky and captured the above video footage of the genet cat riding on the back of the black rhino.

“It was a fabulous success and we were able to catch the genet, this time trying to hitch hike, on the back of a very grumpy black rhino.”

While Wildlife ACT have still not figured out exactly why “Genet Jackson” was riding the white rhino and buffalo last year, they have worked out what the genet was doing in the latest incident caught on video. The cheeky cat was enjoying a snack on the back of the black rhino.

“In this clip you can clearly see the genet ‘hawking’ insects from the back of this black rhino.”

When watching the video, it is interesting to note that at first the black rhino doesn’t seem too worried about the intruder, but eventually, something spooks the animal and it runs away.

As reported by Iafrica, not to be deterred and all the while mewling loudly, “Genet Jackson” managed to hang on almost rodeo-style and stay with the black rhino for the remainder of the ride.

Wildlife ACT uploaded the video to YouTube on July 21, which can be enjoyed above. On top of that, “Genet Jackson” has become so popular, he even has his own Twitter feed.

On the subject of endangered black rhino, the Inquisitr recently reported that Britain’s Prince Harry is currently visiting several African countries in an effort to assist with preserving endangered species.

[Images: Screengrabs from YouTube video]

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