 |
 |
|
Status: Good, but protected in some regions of Africa. Diet in wild: Small rodents, insects, lizards, and birds. Life span in wild: 10 to 15 years. Weight: Males 10 to 18 pounds; females 10 to 12 pounds. Native habitat: Sahara Desert and parts of Central India. Send an e-card featuring Zimba! IT'S FREE! Think you want a caracal?? Read this from the USDA.
Black Pine Animal Park 1426 W. 300 N. P.O. Box 02 Albion, IN 46701 (260) 636-7383
©2008
Professional Animal Retirement Center, Inc.
|
Caracal This exotic small cat is a caracal named Zimba.
Sporting long tufts of fur at the tips of their ears, the caracal uses this physical feature to help funnel sound down into the tall grass in which they live. This "radar" helps them narrow in on rodents, and birds. In fact, one of their most effective means of hunting is to catch birds in mid-flight overhead, or to pluck them off perches in low branches. Many, many years ago, natives of Africa trained caracals as hunting companions much like Cheetahs were once trained. Likely as a result of those years of human interaction caracals are still, today, sometimes kept as household pets. Zimba was a house pet raised in captivity. Two things led to her needing a new home. First, the one human she trusted most died. The man's widow didn't have Zimba's trust, but a move to an apartment ultimately sealed Zimba's fate to move to a new permanent home. To learn more about keeping exotic cats as pets, click here. |
The Animals
Caracals,
also commonly called African lynx though not actually a lynx, weigh at adulthood from 25 to 45 pounds
and are native to the grasslands of Africa and parts of Asia. These
endangered cats are very sleek and powerful hunters.