CARACAL

Facts

The Caracal is a slender, moderately sized cat characterised by a robust build, a short face, long canine teeth, tufted ears, and long legs. It reaches nearly 40–50 cm (16–20 in) at the shoulder. The tan, bushy tail extends to the hocks. The Caracal is sexually dimorphic and the females are smaller than the males in most bodily parameters.

The prominent facial features include the 4.5-cm-long black tufts on the ears, two black stripes from the forehead to the nose, the black outline of the mouth, the distinctive black facial markings, and the white patches surrounding the eyes and the mouth. The eyes appear to be narrowly open due to the lowered upper eyelid, probably an adaptation to shield the eyes from the sun’s glare. The ear tufts may start drooping as the animal ages. The coat is uniformly reddish tan or sandy, though black Caracals are also known. The underbelly and the insides of the legs are lighter, often with small reddish markings. The fur, soft, short, and dense, grows coarser in the summer. The ground hairs (the basal layer of hair covering the coat) are denser in winter than in summer. The length of the guard hairs (the hair extending above the ground hairs) can be up to 3 cm (1.2 in) long in winter, but shorten to 2 cm (0.8 in) in summer. These features indicate the onset of moulting in the hot season, typically in October and November. The hind legs are longer than the forelegs, so the body appears to be sloping downward from the rump.

Male Caracal measure in head-to-body length 78–108 cm (31–43 in) and have 21–34 cm (8.3–13.4 in) long tails; 77 male Caracal ranged in weight between 7.2 and 19 kg (16 and 42 lb). The head-to-body length of females is 71–103 cm (28–41 in) with a tail of 18–31.5 cm (7.1–12.4 in); 63 females ranged in weight between 7 and 15.9 kg (15 and 35 lb).

The Caracal is often confused with a lynx, as both cats have tufted ears. However, a notable point of difference between the two is that Lynx species are spotted and blotched, while the Caracal shows no such markings on the coat. The African golden cat has a similar build as the Caracal, but is darker and lacks the ear tufts.

The Caracal has a total of 30 teeth. The large paws have four digits in the hind legs and five in the fore legs. The first digit of the fore leg remains above the ground and features the dewclaw. The sharp and retractile claws are larger but less curved in the hind legs.

The Caracal is typically nocturnal, though some activity may be observed during the day as well. However, the cat is so secretive and difficult to observe that its activity at daytime might easily go unnoticed. A study in South Africa showed that Caracals are most active when the air temperature drops below 20 °C (68 °F). A solitary cat, the Caracal mainly occurs alone or in pairs; the only groups seen are of mothers with their offspring. A territorial animal, the Caracal marks rocks and vegetation in its territory with urine and probably with dung, which is not covered with soil. Claw scratching is prominent, and dung middens are typically not formed. Territories overlap extensively. The conspicuous ear tufts and the facial markings often serve as a method of visual communication; Caracal have been observed interacting with each other by moving the head from side to side so that the tufts flicker rapidly. Like other cats, the Caracal meows, growls, hisses, spits, and purrs.

A carnivore, the Caracal typically preys upon small mammals and birds. In South Africa, it preys on the Cape Grysbuck, Common Duiker, bush Vlei Rats, Rock Hyrax (Dassie) and Cape Hare. Mammals generally comprise at least 80% of its diet and it may also target larger antelope such as young Kudu, Impala, Bushbuck, Mountain Reedbuck and Springbuck. The remaining percentage is made up of Lizard, Snake and Insects. In South Africa, Caracal have been documented preying on small livestock in areas where sheep and goat are farmed. Occasionally, it consumes grasses and grapes, which help to clear the immune system and stomach of any parasites.

The Caracal speed and agility make it an efficient hunter, able to take down prey two to three times its size. The powerful hind legs allow it to leap more than 3 m (9.8 ft) in the air to catch birds on the wing. It can even twist and change its direction mid-air. It is an adroit climber. It stalks its prey until it is within 5 m (16 ft), following which it can launch into a sprint. While large prey such as antelope are suffocated by a throat bite, smaller prey are killed by a bite on the back of the neck. Kills are consumed immediately, and less commonly dragged to cover. It returns to large kills if undisturbed. It has been observed to begin feeding on antelope kills at the hind parts. It may scavenge at times, though this has not been frequently observed.

Both sexes become sexually mature by the time they are a year old; production of gametes (sex cells) begins even earlier at seven to ten months. However, successful mating takes place only at 12 to 15 months. Breeding takes place throughout the year. Oestrus, one to three days long, recurs every two weeks unless the female is pregnant. Females in oestrus show a spike in urine-marking, and form temporary pairs with males. Mating has not been extensively studied; a limited number of observations suggest that copulation, lasting nearly four minutes on average, begins with the male smelling the areas urine-marked by the female, which then rolls on the ground. The pair separate after copulation.

Gestation lasts about two to three months, following which a litter consisting of one to six kittens is born. Births generally peak from October to February. Births take place in dense vegetation or deserted burrows of Aardvarks and Porcupines. Kittens are born with their eyes and ears shut and the claws not retractable (unable to be drawn inside); the coat resembles that of adults, but the abdomen is spotted. Eyes open by ten days, but it takes longer for the vision to become normal. The ears become erect and the claws become retractable by the third or the fourth week. Around the same time, the kittens start roaming their birthplace, and start playing among themselves by the fifth or the sixth week. They begin taking solid food around the same time; they have to wait for nearly three months before they make their first kill. As the kittens start moving about by themselves, the mother starts shifting them every day. All the milk teeth appear in 50 days, and permanent dentition is completed in 10 months. Juveniles begin dispersing at nine to ten months, though a few females stay back with their mothers. The average lifespan of the Caracal in captivity is nearly 16 years.

The known predators of Caracal are Lion, Leopard and Hyena. To protect themselves from predators they camouflage on open habitat by lying flat with their plain, brown coat.