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Caracal - LYNX CARACAL
Possibly Endangered
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Caracal": "Caracal" comes from the Turkish words "kara kulak," meaning "black ear."
Location: Africa, Arabia, the Middle East as far east as Pakistan.
Habitat: Savanna in Africa; desert areas in Asia.
Description: The color of the coat is uniform reddish brown above and white underneath, but sometimes no darker than beige. The fur is short and very soft. There are long tufts of hair on the ears. The soles of the feet are hairless. The limbs are long in proportion to body size. The caracal grows to about three and one half feet long, twelve inches of which is tail, and it can weigh 40 pounds.
Behavior: This animal is nocturnal, primarily to avoid the heat of the day, because in the colder parts of its range it also hunts by day. Despite its long legs it does not run a great deal. It jumps very well, and often catches birds by leaping up at them as they fly by. It feeds on many species of mammals and birds, especially rodents and small antelopes. It is completely solitary in clearly defined hunting territories.
Reproduction: The gestation period lasts 70 days and two to four kittens are born in each litter. The young nurse for about ten weeks and are probably completely independent by the time they are three or four months old.
Go to the Carnivore Page to learn more about all the meat-eating animals.
Or go to the Cat Index to study other
wild cats.
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