Caracal

Description:

The caracal is distinguished from Felis by the presence of a long tuft on the tip of the ears, exceeding half their length. No trace of pattern remains in the coat, except a few spots on the underside and inside of the fore legs. It is a slender, long-legged cat of medium size with a relatively short tail. The fur on the back and sides is generally of a uniform tawny grey or reddish, frosted-sand colour. The belly and the undersides of the legs and chest are whitish and spotted or blotched with pale markings. The tufted ears are black-backed. Black caracals also occur. The skull is high and rounded. The jaw is short, stoutly built, and equipped with large, powerful teeth. About 92% of caracals lack the second upper premolar teeth. Males reach a head and body length of 75 to 105.7 cm (29.5 to 41.6 in), with a 23.1- to 34-cm-long tail, and weigh 8.0 to 20 kg (17.6 to 44.1 lb). Females are smaller with a head and body length of 69 to 102.9 cm (27.2 to 40.5 in) and a tail 19.5 to 34 cm (7.7 to 13.4 in) long. They weigh from 7.0 to 15.9 kg (15.4 to 35.1 lb)

Habitat:

Caracals are common in parts of their sub-Saharan range, especially in South Africa and southern Namibia, where they expand into new, and recolonize vacant, areas. They occur at much lower densities in Central and West Africa, where the carnivore community is more diverse. They occupy a wide variety of habitats from semidesert to relatively open savanna and scrubland to moist woodland and thicket or evergreen and montane forest such as in the Western Cape of South Africa. They prefer drier woodland and savanna regions with lower rainfall and some cover. They also occur in the Saharan mountain ranges and semiarid woodlands. On the Arabian Peninsula, caracals occur throughout the mountain ranges and hilly steppe regions, but probably do not penetrate far into the great sand deserts of the interior.