Caracal
Amazing fact
A caracal may stash its catch in tree branches to eat later.
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
A caracal may stash its catch in tree branches to eat later.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Caracal
- Scientific name
- Caracal caracal
- Japanese name
- カラカル
- Group
- Land mammals
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Carnivora
- Family
- Felidae
- Genus
- Caracal
It lives from Africa through the Middle East to India, in savannas, semi-deserts, dry woodlands and dry mountains.
It has long tufts of black hair on the tips of its ears. Its name comes from a Turkish word meaning "black-eared."
It is a cat that hunts at night. It is an amazing jumper and can leap up to swat a bird out of the air.
How the Caracal lives
It runs after prey such as mongooses and rodents. It generally lives alone and defends its territory. A mother uses an old aardvark or porcupine burrow as a den for her young.
San Diego Zoo Wildlife AllianceBasic data
- Size
- Length: 61–106 cmShoulder height: about 46 cm
- Weight
- females 6–16 kg, males 8–20 kg
- Lifespan
- about 12 years in the wild
Where the Caracal has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- カラカル
- 简体中文
- 狞猫属
- 繁體中文
- 獰貓屬
- 한국어
- 카라칼
- Español
- Caracal
- Français
- Lynx Du Désert
- Deutsch
- Karakal
- Italiano
- Caracal
- हिन्दी
- स्याहगोश
- العربية
- عناق الأرض
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Karakal
- Tiếng Việt
- Linh miêu tai đen
- Русский
- Каракал
- Türkçe
- Karakulak
- ไทย
- แคราแคล
- বাংলা
- ক্যারাকাল
- اردو
- کرکل
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance — CaracalChecked: 2026-11-03
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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