Caracal Fact File

NAME Caracal

SCIENTIFIC NAME Caracal caracal GEOGRAPHIC RANGE Africa and the middle east through to India.

HABITAT Savannah, dry woodland, semi-desert, arid hilly steppe and dry mountains. LIFESPAN Up to 12 years in the wild. Up to 17 years in captivity. WEIGHT 6– 20kg

DIET Rodents, birds, monkeys, mongooses, impala, hyraxes and dik diks. WILD POPULATION Unknown

IUCN RED LIST STATUS

Currently not at risk of becoming extinct in the wild. GENERAL DESCRIPTION Caracals are also named the ‘desert lynx’. Despite this name and their many similarities to a lynx, they are in fact not a species of lynx. The name Caracal comes from the Turkish word ‘karakulak’ which means black ears. Caracals have tufted ears covered in black fur, whilst the rest of the body is a uniform reddish orange colour. Similarly to the lynx, they have large muscular hind legs, allowing them to jump vertically 3 metres to catch birds mid-flight. Caracals will catch multiple birds in one leap using this technique. Despite being known for their bird-catching skills, Caracals are very powerful and have been known to bring down much larger prey animals such as young antelope and even nesting ostrich! Like Cheetah, Caracals have been domesticated historically and used for hunting purposes. They were also trained for bird hunting in India and Iran and it is thought that this is the origination of the saying ‘put the cat amongst the pigeons’. Caracals were released into enclosed arenas, along with a flock of birds, and wagers made to see how many birds they would catch. Mummified Caracals have also been found in Egypt, along with statues of Caracals.

CARACAL RANGE

THREATS

• Human– wildlife conflict– Caracals have been known to take livestock across much of their range, including South Africa, India and the United Arab Emirates, resulting in the killing of Caracal’s by farmers protecting their livestock. A correlation has been shown between prey abundance and livestock attacks. Where Caracals have plentiful prey, livestock attacks were not reported.

• Habitat destruction– people move further into Caracal territory, driving out prey species. Persecution of Caracals are more likely in these areas where human– wildlife conflict increases.