Mammals of the WorldCaracal
Caracal caracal
- Order
- Carnivora
- Family
- Felidae
- Genus
- Caracal
- IUCN status
- LC
- Distribution
- Morocco|Algeria|Tunisia|Mauritania|Gambia|Senegal|Mali|Guinea|Guinea-Bissau|Cote d'Ivoire|Burkina Faso|Ghana|Togo|Benin|Nigeria|Niger|Cameroon|Chad|Central African Republic|Sudan|South Sudan|Egypt|Libya|Eritrea|Djibouti|Ethiopia|Somalia|Kenya|Uganda|Tanzania|Burundi?|Democratic Republic of the Congo|Angola|Zambia|Zimbabwe|Malawi|Mozambique|Botswana|Namibia|South Africa|Lesotho|Eswatini|Israel|Palestine|Lebanon|Syria|Jordan|Saudi Arabia|Kuwait|Yemen|Oman|United Arab Emirates|Turkey|Iraq|Iran|Kazakhstan|Uzbekistan|Turkmenistan|Tajikistan|Afghanistan|Pakistan|India
- Realm
- Afrotropic|Palearctic
Other names: Red Lynx|Caracal Lynx
About this species
- Size
- Shoulder height 40–50cm
- Weight
- 8–19kg
- Diet
- Mainly small mammals, especially rodents, plus birds, reptiles and young antelope
- Habitat
- Arid country, dry scrub and open woodland
- Range
- Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia to arid north-west India
- Litter size
- 1–6 kittens
- Gestation
- Two to three months
The caracal is a slender, long-legged cat with a short face, a short bushy tail and long black ear tufts about 4.5 cm long. The coat is a plain reddish tan or sandy, paler underneath, with black markings on the face, a black outline to the mouth and white patches around the eyes and mouth. It is a strong jumper, able to leap over 3 m to catch birds in the air. Melanistic individuals are known (Wikipedia, general species account).
In India the caracal is found in arid north-western country, with records from Sariska Tiger Reserve and Ranthambhore National Park; the Wikipedia account says the Indian population may be under 100. Rodents are a big part of the diet in western India. It is normally nocturnal, secretive and solitary, and hard to observe. Mughal emperors and Indian rulers trained caracals to course small game and birds, at least from the Delhi Sultanate until the 20th century (Wikipedia, general species account).
Description: Wildlife of India guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)