CARACAL

                       

                        STATUS

IUCN                      :  LC 

ZSI/CAMP             :   LRnt 

CITES                    :  Appendices - I 

Schedule              :   I (Part I) 

Population           :   20 to 30 

Activity                 :  Nocturnal 

Social Group        :  Solitary

👉Local name    :   Henotaro, Gush, Shiyagush

👉Physical measurements & life cycle:👇

Length             :  90 - 110 cm 

                              (Including 20 - 30 cm tail) 

Weight            :  15 - 20 kg

Height            :  40 - 45 cm

Maturity        :  Two years

Tail length    :  30 cm

Gestation      :  70 - 80 days

Litter size    :  2 - 6

Life span      :  About 10 - 15 years

Breeding      :  Round the year

👉Description  :  The caracal is a handsome medium sized cat, it has a sleek coat that varies from fawn to grey in colour which may be gloriously rich reddish brown with faint spots on under parts and back. Tail is short. Ears are long, erect, with tufts of hair on the tips. 

👉Food  :  Small deer, gazelle, hares, rodents and foxes and also birds such as peafowl, crane and pigeon. 

👉Distribution  :  Very small population survives in Kachchh. It is found in Rann of Kachchh and Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary. May be present in Banaskantha. It was cited in Kachchh in Lifri Rakhal and in Narayan Sarover area in 1996 and 2005 respectively. 

👉Habitat  :  Desert grassland and scrub jungle. 

👉Behaviour  :  Very little is known. It can climb up the trees and is an efficient predator. Crepuscular to nocturnal in habit. It can be easily trained. Rears young in burrows, hollows of tree or crevices in rocks. 

👉Signs of presence  :  Pug marks.

👉As far as the structure of hind legs in concerned, the caracal has lot of similarity with the Cheetah. Just like the Hunting leopard, caracal was also trained for the hunting (game) in the past. There is a record that in Persia the trained caracals could hunt 9-10 pigeons feeding on the ground within a few moments before they could fly.