Description:
The caracal is a medium-sized wild cat and characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long tufted ears, relatively short tail, and long canine teeth. Its coat is uniformly reddish tan or sandy, while the ventral parts are lighter with small reddish markings. It reaches 40–50 cm at the shoulder and weighs 8–19 kg.
Habitat:
It inhabits forests, savannas, marshy lowlands, semideserts, and scrub forests, but prefers dry areas with low rainfall and availability of cover.
Diet:
The caracal typically preys on mammals, which generally comprise at least 80% of its diet; and it also targets small Cercopithecidae monkeys and larger antelopes such as young kudu, impala, mountain gazelle, dorcas gazelle, Cape bushbuck, gerenuk, mountain reedbuck, Sharpe's grysbok and springbok.The remaining percentage is made up of lizards, snakes and insects.
Behavior:
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; activity typically ceases at higher temperatures. A solitary cat, the caracal mainly occurs alone or in pairs; the only groups seen are of mothers with their offspring.