Poisoned carcasses are put out by ranchers to kill predators, which kill a variety of carnivores. They are considered rare or threatened in Asia and North Africa widespread in South Africa and hunted as a poultry raider wherever they are found. The actual number of caracal in the wild is unknown. They have lived up to 19 years in captivity. Further work is needed on subspecies identification of these cats, like many of the small cats. These cats are fairly common in zoos, and breed well. Sexual maturity is reached around 12 – 16 months. They are weaned at about ten weeks, and remain with their mother for up to a year. At four to five weeks of age the young are very active and make a chirping, birdlike vocalization. When they are about three weeks old, the mother takes them from the birth burrow to another location, and continues to move the family on a regular basis. The kittens can open their eyes on the first day of life, but they are not completely open for six to 10 days. Newborns are darker and greyer than the adults, with reddish belly spots that fade as they age. As with other desert animals, their sight and hearing are very good and they have a moderate sense of smell.Īfter a 78 – 81 day gestation, one to four kittens are born in a burrow, crevice, or dense patch of brush lined with fur and feathers. Vocalizations are few, mainly growls and spits in anger, and a loud barking sound used to call their partners. Sleeping is done in burrows, rock crevices or thick bush, sometimes in trees. Like most species of cat, the caracal is predominantly nocturnal, travelling up to 20 km per night in search of food. Large prey animals are covered with grass after the initial feeding, to be consumed later. A kill is often dragged into dense cover where it can be eaten without disturbance. New grass or fruit is also sometimes eaten, probably for the moisture content. Other prey items include rodents, hares, small antelope, carrion and reptiles, including poisonous snakes. When consuming birds, they pluck the larger ones before eating, and eat the smaller ones whole. They were also used to hunt antelope, hares, and foxes, much like the cheetah in Africa. They were put in arena containing a flock of pigeons, and wagers were made to see how many they would take down. This is the origination of the expression ‘to put a cat amongst the pigeons’. Ten to a dozen pigeons at one time can be taken this way, and the caracal was once tamed and trained for bird hunting in India and Iran. In South Africa, adult male home ranges were 31 – 65 square km, while those of the females were four to 31 square km.Ĭaracals are remarkable jumpers, and can jump several feet into the air to knock flushed birds down with their paw. Males have a home range which includes that of several females, and as solitary animals they come together only for mating. Although they can be considered the fastest cat of their size, their hunting technique is the stalk and spring method like that of the domestic cat. Their gait is similar to the cheetah Acinonyx jubatus, but they are not sprinters, and take to the trees if pursued by dogs. During the hot hours of the day, they rest in crevices, and hunt mainly in the cooler morning, night and evening hours. As a desert animal, they can survive long periods without drinking. They are found in woodlands, savannahs and acacia scrub throughout Africa jungle scrub and deserts in India and arid, sandy regions and steppes in Asia. Melanistic caracals have been reported, though only rarely.Įssentially an animal of dry regions, the caracal has a wide habitat tolerance. They also lack the ruff of hairs around the face which are so predominant in the northern cats. Although they are called ‘desert lynx’, caracals have longer legs, a more slender body, and the tail is considerably longer than true lynx. The short, dense coat is slightly longer and whiter on the underside. Black backed ears, dark spots on both sides of the muzzle, black spots above the eyes and a black stripe from the eye to the nose break up an otherwise uniform tawny-brown to brick-red coloring. Large, tapering ears with five cm erect tufts of black hair, used for communication, are probably the most unique feature of this cat. Reproduction 1 – 4 kittens born after 78 – 81 day gestationĬolouring Sandy coloured, white underside, black spots above eyes and on whiskersĬaracal means ‘black ears’ in Turkish. Range Central and South Africa, SW Asia, Middle East
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