Caracal | The caracal is also commonly known as the Persian Lynx or African Lynx despite the fact that the caracal is not a lynx at
all. The caracal is thought to be most closely related to the African
golden cat and the serval. The caracals name is believed to come from
the Turkish word Karakulak, which means black ears. The caracal
typically has 20 different muscles in the caracals ears which enables the caracal to detect prey.
The caracal is a medium sized cat however, with the caracal, its size appears to make little difference on what the caracal hunts. Scientists have found dead ostriches with caracal tooth-marks
in them, meaning that the caracal is fast enough to outrun and catch an
ostrich, and strong enough to overpower it and kill it. The caracal has
also been known to leap up into the air to successfully catch and kill flying birds. The caracals are excellent acrobats and can land safely.
The caracal is normally dark red, grey, or golden sand in colour and as the caracals name
suggests, the caracals ears are black, with tufts. Young caracals bear
reddish spots on the underbelly that disappear when they grow up. The
caracal mainly hunts rodents, birds (including ostriches), antelopes,
gazelles, and rabbits. The caracal tends to avoid eating very stiff fur by neatly shearing it off with their claws, but they are tolerant of feathers.
The caracal can live up
to around 12 years in the wild, with some adult caracals living to 17
years old in captivity. The caracal is found in Africa and Southwest Asia, where the caracal prefers grasslands (savannas and tropical grasslands), and deserts.
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