caracal

A member of the cat family, native to Africa and S Asia (Felis caracal); reddish-brown; slender with long legs, short tail, long tufted ears; inhabits savannah and dry woodland; eats birds, rodents, and small antelopes; easily tamed.

iCaracal Conservation status: Least concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Family: Felidae Subfamily: Felinae Genus: Caracal Species: C. caracal
Binomial name
Caracal caracal (Schreber, 1776)

The Caracal, also called Persian lynx or African lynx (Caracal caracal, sometimes Felis caracal), is a fiercely territorial medium-sized cat. Caracals are labeled as small cats, but are the heaviest of all small cats, as well as the fastest. The most conspicuous feature of the caracal are its long, tufted black ears, which also explain the origin of its name – karakulak, Turkish for "black ear".

Subspecies

Caracal caracal caracal, East, Central and South Africa Caracal caracal algira, North Africa Caracal caracal damarensis, Namibia Caracal caracal limpopoensis, Botswana Caracal caracal lucani, Gabon Caracal caracal michaelis, Turkmenistan (endangered) Caracal caracal nubicus, Ethiopia, Sudan Caracal caracal poecilictis, West Africa Caracal caracal schmitzi, West Asia, Iran, Arabia, Pakistan, India