Caracal

Sizes Length: 52 inches (overall body length) Weight: up to 50 lbs. Height: 20 inches at the shoulder Breeding Sexual Maturity: 2 years Gestation: 70 to 78 days Number of Young: 1-4

Lifestyle Habit: A solitary, mainly out at dusk and nocturnal Diet: rodents, birds, reptiles and other small mammals, occasionally take small deer, including the mountain redbuck. Call: not very vocal, but have a loud bark when they call their mate. Lifespan: 19 years Related Species Closely related to the Lynx

The Caracal's distribution ranges from central India west through Africa, except for true desert and rain forest areas. The cat is found in dry savanna and woodland areas, scrubland and rugged terrain in mountainous regions The name "caracal" means "black ears" in Turkish. A Caracal stalks prey, then captures it after a quick dash or leap. The caracal is renowned for catching low-flying birds. Litters may be born and hidden in abandoned burrows, ant-bear holes, rock crevices or hollow trees. Caracals have been "tamed" and used to help human hunters in Iran and India. Because they sometimes raid poultry, people kill them on occasion.

Its coloration is generally yellowish brown to a darker red/brown, with the undersides of the cat, areas around the eyes and under the chin being white. Melanistic, or all black caracal have also been reported. The long tufts on the Caracal's ears are can be up to four inches long. The caracal can survive for long periods without water. Instead, it obtains its water requirement from the metabolic moisture of its prey. Individuals appear to defend territories which they mark with urine. The social system of the caracal is not well understood. They are primarily solitarily or live as mated pairs. Caracals sometimes store the remains of their prey in the forks of trees or in dense bushes, later returning for further feeding.

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