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Abstract

In Africa the caracal Caracal caracal is typically an inhabitant of the more open, arid savannas and their associated rocky hills, although in South Africa it also occurs in the evergreen and montane forests of the southern provinces. In Ethiopia caracals also range up to 2500 m high into the Bale and Simien Mountains. Outside Africa the caracal’s range extends as far east as India. Although it is one of the larger and more abundant cats, it has been inadequately studied to date. The few studies that are available also do not refer to the more mesic savannas of Africa, possibly because the caracal is less abundant there. Consequently all the available information will be used here as a general guide to the ecology of this beautiful cat with its characteristic black-tufted ears.

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© 1999 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Bothma, J.d.P., Walker, C. (1999). The caracal. In: Larger Carnivores of the African Savannas. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-03766-9_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-03766-9_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-03768-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-03766-9

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