Meet the Animal Park's Caracals

NATIVE RANGE

Caracals are widely distributed across Africa, Central Asia, India, and the Middle East, but with populations dwindling in parts of their range. They occupy a variety of habitats but prefer dry open areas with some vegetative cover.

DIET

They are strict carnivores, hunting rodents and other small- to medium-sized mammals, as well as birds and hooved prey like antelopes and gazelles. The caracal can kill prey measuring two to three times its size. Where wild prey is not readily available, caracals may prey on livestock. They are very acrobatic hunters and can leap 10 feet into the air to catch a bird.

BEHAVIOR

The caracal generally lives alone and is mostly nocturnal, but it can also be active during the day depending on its habitat and the daily temperatures.

FASCINATING FACTS

• Caracals’ ears are each controlled by about 20 muscles that help them swivel to detect prey. The ears are topped with long black tufts, which may be used for communication or to channel sound.
• Caracals get their name from their ears: “karakulak” in Turkish. “Kara” means black and “kulak” means ear.
• The caracal is sometimes called a “desert lynx”—but it’s not a lynx. The caracal emerged more than a million years before the lynx.