Caracal

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Caracal is also a town in Romania; see: Caracal, Romania.

Caracal
Scientific Classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Family: Felidae Genus: Caracal Species: caracal
Binomial name
Caracal caracal (Schreber, 1776)

The Caracal (Caracal caracal, sometimes Felis caracal) is a medium-sized wild cat. It resembles a lynx and is related to this genus. The length is 65 cm, plus 30 cm tail. It has longer legs and a slimmer appearance. The colour of the fur is variable: it may be wine-red, grey or sand-coloured. Young caracals bear reddish spots on the underside; adults do not have markings except for black spots above the eyes.

Caracals are distributed over Africa and West Asia. Their habitat is dry steppes and semi-deserts. A caracal may survive without drinking for a long period - the water demand is satisified with the body fluids of the prey. It hunts at night (but in colder seasons also in the daytime) for rodents and hares; rarely it may even attack a gazelle, a small antelope or a young ostrich.

Subspecies

• Caracal caracal caracal, East, Central and South Africa
• Caracal caracal algira, North Africa
• Caracal caracal damarensis, Namibia
• Caracal caracal limpopoensis, Botswana
• Caracal caracal lucani, Gabon
• Caracal caracal michaelis, Turkmenistan (endangered)
• Caracal caracal nubicus, Ethiopia, Sudan
• Caracal caracal poecilictis, West Africa
• Caracal caracal schmitzi, West Asia, Arabia, India