🐾 Caracal

Caracal

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Who it is

• Scientific name: Caracal caracal
• Family & relatives: A medium cat most closely related to the serval and the African golden cat.
• How to spot it: Spot it by its plain reddish-tan coat, muscular build, and famous long black tufts on the tips of its ears.

Its body & abilities

• Size: About 60 to 90 cm long in the body with a medium-length tail.
• Weight: Typically weighs 8 to 19 kg, with males heavier than females.
• Body & adaptations: Powerful hind legs and tufted, highly mobile ears help it jump high and track sound with precision.
• Top speed: Can run about 80 km/h over short distances.
• Strength: It can leap over 3 meters straight up to swat birds out of the air with its paws.
• Senses: Sharp hearing tuned by its tufted ears, plus keen eyesight, make it a superb night hunter.
• Growing up: Kittens are born in a sheltered den, open their eyes within about ten days, and become independent near a year old.

Where it lives

• Habitat: Lives in dry savannas, scrublands, semi-deserts, and rocky hills.
• Where in the world: Ranges across Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and into India.
• Territory: Holds a home range that can span from tens to over a hundred square kilometers.

What it eats

• Diet: A carnivore that can go long stretches getting its water mostly from prey.
• Favorite foods: Hunts rodents, hares, small antelope, and birds, which it catches skillfully.
• How it hunts: A stealthy stalker that creeps close and finishes with an explosive leap and pounce.

How it behaves

• How it moves: Built for power, it is a strong runner and one of the highest-jumping of all cats.
• When it is active: Mainly nocturnal, hunting under cover of darkness.
• Family life: Solitary except for mothers with kittens and brief mating pairs.
• How it talks: Communicates with growls, hisses, purrs, meows, and scent marks.
• Babies: After about 70 to 80 days of gestation, the female bears usually one to three kittens that she raises on her own.

Its place in nature

• Role in nature: A key predator of rodents and birds; adults have few enemies, but kittens can fall to lions, hyenas, and larger cats.
• Conservation: Listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, but threatened locally by habitat loss and conflict with farmers.
• Dangers: Dies mainly from being shot by farmers protecting livestock, habitat loss, and road accidents.

Life & legacy

• How long it lives: Lives around 12 years in the wild and up to about 17 years in captivity.
• In our culture: In ancient Persia and India, caracals were tamed and used to hunt birds, giving rise to a phrase about their skill.
• Where to see it: Seen on safari in South Africa's Kruger National Park and Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, and in many zoos.
• Fun fact: The caracal is such an amazing jumper it can knock a dozen birds out of a rising flock in a single leap.