Caracal Cats 101 _ Fun Facts & Myths

In today's video, we will talk about some interesting facts and myths about the caracal cat.

Caracal is one of the best hunters in Africa, a secretive cat with an exceptional ability to track down prey in the savannah.

The Caracal is a graceful, slender cat with a short thick coat and distinctive long black tufted ears. Its body color varies from yellowish gray to reddish brown, and sometimes completely black "melanistic" animals can be found. They have characteristic narrow black stripes running from the eye to the nose and down the middle of the forehead, and the eyes are yellow-brown with round pupils instead of slits. Kittens have reddish spots on the underside of their bodies, which are not present in adults.

Here are some of the interesting caracal cat facts that will give you a deeper understanding of its characteristics and temperament.

1. Meaning of Caracal.

The name Caracal comes from the Turkish word "karakulak", meaning "black ear". The caracal was once trained to hunt birds in Iran and India. They were put into the arenas with a flock of pigeons and bets were made on how many cats would be killed. This is where the expression "put the cat among the pigeons" came from. Caracal is able to jump into the air and shoot down 10-12 birds at a time.

2. The closest relatives of Caracal.

In appearance, one can note a lot in common between the caracal and an ordinary domestic cat. They both have a small, almost spherical head with tiny marbled eyes. However, the caracal is more closely related to the serval and is often mistaken for it.

Despite the almost identical body shape and structure, the apparent differences between the serval and the caracal are actually quite striking. The caracal looks like a serval with no black spots yet.

The easiest way to tell these two apart is by their ears. Servals do not have the characteristic ear tufts found in feline caracals.

3. The size and appearance of the caracal cat.

Often referred to as the desert lynx, the caracal does not actually share the same physical characteristics as members of the lynx family, such as the characteristic ruff of hair around the face. Instead, it has a short, dense coat, usually dark brown to brick red, and black melanists have been recorded. As the name suggests, the back of the ears is black and topped with long black tufts about 1.75 inches long. This crest is a characteristic feature of caracals and members of the lynx family. This is the largest representative of small cats in Africa and the most formidable. Males can weigh up to 40 pounds and females up to 35. They reach 16-20 inches at the shoulder and 35-39 inches in length.

4. The behavior of the caracal cat.

Caracals are solitary animals. They maintain the territory they will mark by leaving feces in prominent places and spraying urine on bushes.

Another way to communicate is their vocalization. These include the familiar purrs of domestic cats, as well as the meows, growls, hisses, and "wah-wah" noises they use to show they're uncomfortable.

This species is not active both during the day and at night. On colder nights, they tend to be active for a long time.

5. Distribution of caracal.

The range of the caracal is large, including a significant part of Africa, and extends through the Arabian and Anatolian peninsulas, as well as from Southwest and Central Asia to Kazakhstan and Central India. In Africa, the caracal is found everywhere, except for the central Sahara and the dense forests of equatorial West Africa. They occupy a variety of habitats, typically woodlands, scrub forests and thickets, as well as rocky hills and plains, which are also common habitats, preferring fringe habitats, especially transitional forests and grasslands.

6. Habits and lifestyle of the caracal.

Caracals are solitary animals, with the exception of the period of mating and raising kittens. Males and females are territorial and have an active home range. A male's territory may overlap that of several other males, but the female's entire territory is reserved for her personal use. Mostly nocturnal, sometimes caracals can be seen during the day, especially in untouched areas. Although they are terrestrial, they are also skilled climbers with tenacity. Hunt times are usually regulated by prey activity, although caracals usually hunt at night. They have very good hearing and eyesight and communicate through a variety of growls, hisses, meows, and spittles.