Caracal

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Caracal
Caracal

Caracal

Systematics
Order : Predators (Carnivora)
Subordination : Feline (Feliformia)
Family : Cats (Felidae)
Subfamily : Small cats (Felinae)
Genre : Caracal
Type : Caracal
Scientific name
Caracal caracal
( Schreber , 1776)

The caracal ( Caracal caracal ) is an Afro-Asian, medium-sized cat belonging to the genus Caracal . The name refers to the black color of the ears ( Turkish karakulak means "black ear"). Because of its resemblance to the lynx , it is sometimes referred to as the desert lynx .

The caracal was originally classified as a relative of the lynx. However, early studies indicated that it is closer to the genus Felis , which also includes the wildcat . Current studies of the DNA sequence show that it is most closely related to the African golden cat ( C. aurata , Syn . : Profelis aurata ).

The IUCN classifies the caracal as not endangered ( least concern ).

features

The caracal is lynx-like in shape; Its pointed ears in particular are large and painted black, although the brushes are longer than those of a lynx in relation to their body size . The blackish back ears are interspersed with white. Similar to the lynx, the front legs are shorter than the rear legs, but this is not as pronounced as in this species. It lacks the whiskers that are typical of the lynx, nor does it have the stubby tail typical of the lynx. The black and white drawing of the face is striking around the mouth and eyes. Depending on the region, its fur is ocher-yellow, gray or wine-red in color. The light belly side is slightly spotted.

The head-torso length is 65 centimeters on average, there are also 30 centimeters of tail, the shoulder height is 45 centimeters and the weight of the male is 13 to 18 kilograms, while the females are smaller and lighter. The sound repertoire is typical for cats and includes meowing, hissing and purring.

distribution and habitat

The distribution area of ​​the caracal extends over large parts of Africa , where it is only absent in the humid central African forest areas and the central Sahara, as well as southwest Asia from the Arabian Peninsula via Turkey and Iran to the Aral Sea and northwest India. Large parts of the distribution area have only a small population of caracals and in some regions it is also considered extremely rare. It is, however, represented in large numbers in the South African Cape Province .

Distribution areas of the caracal

The caracal's habitat are dry habitats such as semi-deserts, steppes and dry forests. Pure sandy deserts, on the other hand, are not its habitat. Caracals generally prefer more open terrain than most other cats, but prefer terrain that is covered by trees, bushes or rocks. In Niger , for example, they colonize semi-arid regions around the mountain ranges. In Israel they occur mainly in hilly grasslands that are loosely covered with acacias . In Turkmenistan , they also live in the extensive reed thickets along large rivers.

The original range of the caracal largely coincided with that of the cheetah , and several species of gazelles weighing 15 to 30 kilograms were originally found in this range . The gazelles that occurred in the range of the caracal include stag goat antelopes , Indian gazelles , goiter gazelles and Dorcas gazelles . The populations of these gazelles have declined sharply over the past hundred years. The caracal therefore mainly beats hares and hyraxes as well as sometimes domestic goats and domestic sheep .

The territorial claims and territory size of caracals have so far only been insufficiently investigated. Basically they are solitary animals , but two adult animals are often observed together. Four females, who were provided with transmitters in Israel, each used an area of ​​about 57 square kilometers. The districts hardly overlapped. The males, which were also examined with the help of radio transmitters, had significantly larger territories at around 220 square kilometers and their territories sometimes clearly overlapped. In South Africa, on the other hand, the territories of the caracals were significantly smaller and amounted to around 18.2 square kilometers for females and 65 square kilometers for males.

food

Hunting way

Caracal hunting in the Serengeti
Caracal at the Toronto Zoo

Caracals hunt predominantly during the night , but in regions where they live undisturbed, they can also be seen hunting during the day. Caracals that are roused by humans usually seek cover: in open terrain they lie flat on the ground and remain motionless there. Because of the color of their fur, they can hardly be made out.

The hunt is carried out according to the type of cat by ambushing or sneaking up with a final jump or a short sprint of usually less than five meters. In these short sprints, the caracal is faster than most cats of the same size. The hind legs, the length of which exceeds that of the front legs, favor a quick sprint towards the prey. Large prey such as antelopes and duikers are smothered by a targeted bite in the throat. Small prey such as rabbits and mice are usually killed with a neck bite. When hunting birds, caracals use their agility and jumping power by jumping after birds flying up and grabbing them with their paws.

Loot spectrum

The prey spectrum of the caracal is very large and ranges from mice to antelopes and birds. In contrast to most cats of the same size, prey animals play a significant role in the caracal's food spectrum and are two to two and a half times as heavy as the caracal. Most of its prey, however, weighs less than five kilograms. A large part of these are hares , hyrax , small rodents and birds, whereby a caracal can jump a good 3 meters from a standing position when hunting - but jumps up to 5 meters in height have also been observed to catch birds in flight to catch. Mammals made up 94 percent of its food in South Africa's Mountain Zebra National Park . The approximately rabbit-sized hyrax could be detected as prey in fifty percent of the faeces samples. Mountain reedbuck , a medium-sized species from the reedbuck genus, were also found in twenty percent of the faecal samples . In nine caracals shot in Botswana , the stomach contents consisted mainly of gerbils and other species of mice . In addition, hares, spring hares , pheasants , lizards and impalas could be detected. In caracals studied in Israel, birds made up up to 24 percent of the diet. However, they also ate ichneumons and hedgehogs here and, to a lesser extent, insects. Like many other cats, caracals also eat a small amount of plants. Five percent of 394 stomachs examined in South Africa contained grass. A caracal can also hunt jackals.

Predators and competitors

Lions , leopards and hyenas also live in parts of the caracal's range . These much heavier predators also occasionally strike caracals.

Jackals are also found in numerous caracal habitats and appear to be the more successful hunters. In regions of South Africa and Israel, in which jackals were specifically shot, the number of prey animals and also that of caracals increased significantly.

Reproduction

Cub

In the case of caracals kept in captivity, it has been found that female caracals urinate significantly more frequently as they begin to mate. Males who are allowed into a female's enclosure during this time will first inspect these urine marks. This indicates that males can tell by urine whether a female is ready to mate. The female's oestrus lasts about two weeks.

The reproductive biology of the caracal has not yet been studied in detail. In caracals observed in Israel, the females mated with several males over a period of five to six days. The single pairing takes an average of four minutes. Fighting between the males has not been observed in Israel. However, in caracals shot in South Africa, all males had scars on their heads and ears, suggesting fighting between the males. Infanticide also appears to occur in caracals, killing their own species. The remains of young caracals have been found in the stomachs of five males.

The wearing time is between 68 and 81 days. Usually a caracal gives birth to two cubs, but only one cub or up to six can be raised. The young are usually born in a quiet place such as a rock cave or under a root plate. The young, which are already hairy, weigh about 198 to 250 grams at the time of their birth and are blind during the first four to ten days of life. You are only looked after by the mother. They have their complete set of teeth at around fifty days of age, the change to permanent teeth begins at around four to five months and is completed at ten months. In newly born boys, the ears are initially flat and do not begin to straighten until they are two weeks old. At the age of four weeks they have the caracal-typical erect ears. The claws are not retractable at the beginning, they also master this from about the fourth week of life.

Caracals reared in captivity began to beat prey themselves from the age of three months. You will be weaned at around 15 weeks of age. Presumably when they are nine to ten months old, they leave their mother's territory. They are sexually mature in their first year of life. However, males produce offspring at the earliest between twelve and fourteen months of age and females usually do not become pregnant until fourteen to fifteen months of age. Caracals held in captivity lived up to 16 years of age.

Subspecies

In the encyclopedia Handbook of the Mammals of the World , a total of nine subspecies of the caracal are distinguished:

Caracal

The IUCN Cat Specialist Group, however, only recognizes three subspecies in its 2017 revision of the cat system.

  • Caracal caracal caracal in southern and eastern Africa
  • Caracal caracal nubica in the Maghreb, in parts of the Sahara and in the Sahel zone west of the Nile
  • Caracal caracal schmitzi in the Asian part of the distribution area and in the Nile Delta.

Caracal and people

Soviet Union Postage Stamp

Tame caracals were kept in India and Iran until well into the 20th century to hunt rabbits and other small game. The British traveler Godfrey Thomas Vigne reported that in the first half of the 19th century caracals were used for hunting in Kashmir together with cheetahs . Caracals were also used, for example, to hunt crows. In betting, two caracals were let loose on a group of pigeons sitting on the ground and a bet was made as to which caracal would beat the most pigeons before they were blown. A skillful caracal could beat almost a dozen pigeons.

The caracal is still partly hunted. This hunt is particularly intensive in the South African Cape Province, as caracals are so numerous here and so often hit domestic animals that a high population density is perceived as problematic. A particular problem is that they often kill more animals than they need to cover their food needs (so-called surplus killing ). In an incident in South Africa, a single caracal killed more than 21 young domestic goats. In South Africa, the stomach contents of 394 caracals have been examined, which were killed to reduce the number of caracals. The stomach was empty in 37 percent of the animals. The remains of sheep and goats were found in 28 percent of the contents of the remaining 246 stomachs.

Caracals are considered to be easy to hunt cats and, in India in particular, they are hunted for their fur, among other things. On the international fur market, however, caracal skins are not very expensive and the fur trade therefore does not pose a specific threat to this type of cat.

literature

  • Mel Sunquist and Fiona Sunquist: Wild Cats of the World . The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 2002, ISBN 0-226-77999-8

Web links

Commons : Caracal  album with pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Karakal  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Sunquist, p. 39
  2. ↑ a b c d Sunquist, p. 38
  3. ↑ a b c d Sunquist, p. 42
  4. ↑ a b c Sunquist, p. 40
  5. ↑ a b c d Sunquist, p. 41
  6. ↑ a b Sunquist, p. 43
  7. ^ Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier (eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 1: Carnivores. Lynx Edicions, 2009, ISBN 978-84-96553-49-1 , (p. 143).
  8. ↑ AC Kitchener, C. Breitenmoser-Würsten, E. Eizirik, A. Gentry, L. Werdelin, A. Wilting, N. Yamaguchi, AV Abramov, P. Christiansen, C. Driscoll, JW Duckworth, W. Johnson, S. -J. Luo, E. Meijaard, P. O'Donoghue, J. Sanderson, K. Seymour, M. Bruford, C. Groves, M. Hoffmann, K. Nowell, Z. Timmons, S. Tobe: A revised taxonomy of the Felidae . The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group. In: Cat News. Special Issue 11, 2017, pp. 63–64.
  9. ^ Sunquist, p. 44