Wild Cats

[Tallulah]

CARACAL – Caracal caracal

The caracal is a medium-sized cat weighing 8-20kg. Its name is derived from the Turkish word “karakulak,” meaning, “black ear.” Unlike most small cats, the caracal's pupils contract to form circles rather than slits. It has long legs and a muscular body. It's coat is plain grey or red, with tall, black ears decorated with a black tuft of hair. In older caracals, the tufts hang down like tassels! The ears are used to locate prey, and are controlled by 20 different muscles.



Caracals were once thought to be related to the lynx, but are now known to be more closely related to small cats such as the serval or the domestic cat. The ear tufts are an example of convergent evolution – when two unrelated species independently develop similar traits.

The caracal lives in open territory with light cover throughout Africa, the Middle East, and southwest Asia as far as India. They are so common in South Africa that they are hunted as vermin, quite common in Israel, yet rare in Arabia and Pakistan.

Cos babies is cute!


Caracals are able to leap 2 metres into the air to catch birds, and also eat rodents, hares and small antelopes. Unlike most cats, caracals are able to catch prey 2-3 times their own size, including antelopes and young ostritches. They also hunt domestic sheep and goats, sometimes killing far more animals than they can eat, and are killed by farmers as a result.

Caracals are easily tamed and used to be trained to hunt small animals. They are sometimes kept as household pets. Moscow Zoo has hybridised the caracal with the domestic cat.

[AnnaT]

Thanks for that  I have heard of the caracal before although it's not a species that immediately springs to mind. I think I have come across them in wildlife programmes some time ago.

[Tallulah]

I wanted to start with something a bit different that people might not have heard of before. The next one will be very familiar though!

[Tallulah]

LION – Panthera leo

The lion is one if the most recognisable cats. It has a plain, tawny coat. Cubs have pale leopard-like rosette markings. Males have a mane, which grows thicker and darker throughout the lion's lifetime. The lion  at over one metre tall at the shoulder. They weigh 90-190kg, the males are up to 50% larger than the females. Lions have canine teeth 6cm long.


Speckled baby.

Until 10,000 years ago, the lion was the most widespread large land mammal after humans. The earliest lion fossils are 3.5 million years old from Tanzania. It was first known in Europe 700,000 years ago, and quickly became common throughout Europe and Asia. The lion even reached North and South America. They died out in northern Europe and the Americas 10,000 years ago, but survived in the Balkans, Italy, southern France, Spain and Portugal until 100AD.

Today the lion lives throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, and a critically endangered population of around 300 Asiatic lions living in the Gir Forest in India.

The African lion lives in groups of around 12 related females, headed by 1-3 males. Every few years, a new male (or group of males) will fight off the existing male and take over the pride, killing any cubs fathered by the previous male. Male cubs are driven out of the pride aged about 2 years.

Hunting in packs means that lions are able to take large prey such as wildebeest, buffalo or giraffe. The female lions do most of the hunting. The male lion, with his large size and highly visible mane is poorly able to conceal himself in the long grass. He spends his time patrolling his territory, scent marking its boundaries by chin rubbing, scratching and spraying.


I couldn't possibly hunt, it would mess up my hair!

There is some flexibility in the pride-living relationship. The forest-dwelling Asiatic lion can use vegetation cover to stalk closer to its prey. It lives in small, single-sex groups, only coming together to breed. The now-extinct barbary lion was solitary. Cave paintings suggest the European and American lions lived in groups.

The Biblical lion of North Africa and the Middle East was the barbary lion, who was twice the size of the African lion, with darker fur and a black mane that extends all the way along the belly. It was eventually hunted to extinction in 1922, but a small number remain in captivity.


Barbary lions from Port Lympne.

[Mustrum Ridcully]

Hands up everyone who now wants a baby Caracal 

[kimthecat]

me!  They're beautiful.
Thanks Tallulah, I've never got round to reading much about wild cats so this is useful. I don't tend to watch the wild cat programmes as i get upset when they kill the antelopes. 

Ali

[Tallulah]

I watched one programme where the lions were all tucking into a giraffe and you could hear them slurping and tearing the meat. Not nice!

I've tried to find kitten/cub photos for as many of the cats as I can.

[Tallulah]

BOBCAT – Lynx rufus

The bobcat has a soft, thick coat, with black or brown spots on a yellow, red or grey background. Their weight varies between about 5-15kg, males being larger than females, and bobcats from northern latitudes larger than those from the southern part of their range.


Bob the Cat

The bobcat lives throughout southern Canada, the USA and into central Mexico. They prefer dense cover or uneven terrain to provide cover from the weather.

Bobcats hunt rabbits or hares, but may also eat rodents and deer. They are largely solitary, coming together only for mating and occasionally to take shelter from bad weather.

With many other cat species being protected by law, demand for bobcat furs has led to an increase in hunting. Nevertheless, bobcat populations are stable and even increasing in some areas. The main threat to the bobcat is habitat loss, and it has been eradicated from several intensively cultivated or densely populated areas. Loss of habitat has led to concerns about the survival of the Mexican subspecies.

[gabrielleinlondon]

I absolutely love this thread.   Thanks so much for it, Laura - so interesting and the photos you research are great.

[AnnaT]

Oh I want a bobcat now! Wonder what Sasha would say 

[Burmatruex]

Oh I want a bobcat now! Wonder what Sasha would say 

    You really don't.  There is a reason they are solitary! They are beautiful though.  Fortunately, here where I am (Georgia) we still do have these living in their natural habitat.

Laura, this is a great thread!  Thanks!!!

[Tallulah]

Living in the UK, it's hard to imagine these wild cats living in the countryside. The much larger puma and even the jaguar live in parts of the USA, and you wouldn't want to meet one of those in a dark alley! We have the Scottish wildcat of course, but they are so fearful of humans and so small that they don't pose any kind of threat.

[Burmatruex]

There are pumas in Texas, where I'm from.  And actually, the sightings are increasing which is a good thing! 

Even so, I know what you mean.  When I watch some nature show about animals in another country and the creatures show up in their natural habitats I find I'm just holding my breath!

[Edgewood]

Brilliant keep it coming Laura.

When we were on holiday in Scotland the Inverery Wild Life Park had Scottish wild cats. I managed to snap some photos of the female in hide box but wanted to get the male, but he was the other side of the pen. Mick was with Tess our dog at the time keeping his distance so as not to frighten the cat. I gave trying to photograph him, Mick and Tess came for a look and so did the wild cat. He sat but three feet from us staring at Tess. I have a wonderful slide of him. They are beautiful up close. Bigger than a moggie.

[Tallulah]

They are very beautiful cats, aren't they. In some ways they look like domestic tabbies, but the expressions on their faces is pure wildness! At one point they lives throughout most of Great Britain. It's the same old story though - hunting and habitat loss.

If you're interested, I can really recommend a DVD called The Last of the Scottich Wildcats featuring a man called Mike Tomkies. He is an absolute loon and will make you laugh out loud at times, but his affection for the Scottish Wildcat really shines through.