WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT - CARACAL
The caracal (African lynx) or "rooikat"
J H Grobler - KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conservation Service

The caracal, Felis caracal, better known as the ‘rooikat’ in most sheep farming areas, is increasing its distribution in Southern Africa in spite of concerted efforts to eliminate it.  
 
The reason for this is not entirely clear but a number of factors may be involved, such as lack of competition with other predators (e.g. leopard, jackal), or due to denudation of the country which creates suitable habitat for dry land species such as Caracal, Cape fox, and the bat-eared fox.
For the small stock farmer who is being plagued by caracals there is a need to know more about this predator, especially where it is a new arrival. In this article an attempt is made to provide relevant background information on the species.
Description

Caracals are of medium build with powerful legs and a short tail. The overall body colour is red-brown with tiny white flecks and the ears have characteristic long black tufts at the tip. Caracals stand about 450mm high at the shoulder and have a mass of up to 15kg, with exceptionally large animals reaching as much as 20kg. On average the length of the head and body is almost 1m, and the tail is about 250mm.

Distribution and habitat
The caracal is widely distributed throughout South Africa and is perhaps more common in some areas than generally believed. They have a wide habitat tolerance and are found from the coastal forests of Knysna, through the Karoo to the moist Savanna woodland areas of the north. They occur at high densities in the broken hilly country of the Karoo regions, particularly in the north-eastern Cape and the southeastern Free State.

Habits
Caracals are largely nocturnal but are sometimes active during the day, particularly in areas where they are undisturbed. They occur either singly or in small groups comprising an adult female and her young, which may remain with her until they are up to 10 months old. During the day, Caracals lie up in thickets or rock crevices.

Although largely terrestrial, they are good climbers. Young males wander widely and may travel 180km from their place of birth before settling, while older males appear to establish territories encompassing the hunting range of one or two females. When threatened, Caracals growl, hiss loudly, and spit, sometimes with an arched back and bared teeth. A cornered animal may put up a vicious fight. When relaxed, however, a caracal purrs. Kittens and young adults have been heard using a bird-like communication call. The dung is not generally deposited in the same place in the wild, but several deposits of varying age may be found on the same site and deposits are not covered.

Up to four young are born after a gestation period of about 80 days with breeding taking place during most months of the year, but mainly summer. The dark red young are born with closed eyes, which open after six to ten days, and the ears are pitch black and folded down. The lair selected by the female is usually the shelter of a thick bush or a rock crevice.
Caracal do not give birth to their young in holes, as do black-backed jackals. The female rears the young which start to accompany her on hunts when only a few weeks old, and the parent male plays no part in feeding the young or protecting them.

Larger carnivores may at times eat caracal and the young are taken by large raptors such as the martial eagle. Black-backed jackals are reputed to eat the young of caracal but there is no substantiating evidence. The Caracals major enemy is man and many hundreds, at times thousands, are killed annually in small-stock farming areas. In spite of this, the species seem to be holding its own, and even increasing in certain areas.

Killing and feeding behaviour
The caracal is an opportunistic feeder, adapted to live under varying conditions and quite capable of killing prey much larger than itself, such as adult mountain reedbuck or grey rhebuck. They feed mainly on mammals but will also take birds, reptiles and to a lesser extent, invertebrates. Where they occur in the same habitat as dassies, these small herbivores form the main part of their diet. Apart from various small rodents, a wide range of mammalian prey is recorded for the species, including steenbok, duiker, springbok, impala, grysbok, young kudu, moles, hares, springhares, and even carnivores such as black-backed jackals, Cape grey mongoose, bat eared fox, and African wild cat.

Unfortunately, small stock such as sheep and goats fall within the size range of prey taken by Caracals and they have become a problem in many parts of South Africa. What aggravates the situation further is that sheep sometimes mill around after the first one is killed, and on occasions, this incites the caracal to kill more than one.

Larger prey species are killed with a bite at the throat, usually after careful stalk, culminating in a fast rush. The powerful hindquarters propel the animal forward and the sharp claws on the front feet are often used to grasp the prey in order to get a grip with the teeth. Smaller prey may be hit with forepaws, killed, and carried away, but larger prey is either left where it was killed or dragged a short distance to the nearest cover. An adult male grey duiker for example, was dragged 65m and small prey such as a springhare, may at times be taken into a tree. In areas where grass or litter is available, the kill is partially covered. This may be a sign that the caracal will return to the kill. In some farming areas, however, they are reputed not to return to their kills after the first night.

As in the case of the leopard, hair is plucked from larger kills, using front teeth, before feeding commences. Unlike the leopard and other medium or large predators though, the caracal does not remove the innards of larger prey and usually commences feeding on the thick flesh of the hindquarters.

Once most of this is consumed, they will move to the shoulder and neck region. The internal organs of smaller prey species such as rats; mice and small birds are sometimes consumed.

Damage identification
It is important for the farmer to identify the predator that is responsible for the killing of sheep or goats. The caracal is capable of killing adult sheep and goats and will do this at any time of the year. In most cases, it appears to be males that are responsible for domestic stock losses, but females will on occasion make a habit of this.

There are certain ways in which predators kill their prey and one must look for these signs. With the caracal, bite marks on the throat and the odd cut (from claws) on the flanks are signs to look out for. Most important though, the caracal does not open its prey and feeding invariably commences under the tail into the thick flesh of the back legs.

An adult caracal will rarely eat more that 2kg of meat, usually only consuming about 1kg, at a sitting. The caracal does not crack large bones when feeding, preferring to cut the meat off the bone using its cheek teeth. Cheek teeth of cats are, in fact, adapted for cutting and not for crushing or grinding.

One should also examine the area for the typically cat-like spoor of the species. The front pads are slightly larger and rounder than the hind pads.

In many instances, bite marks are difficult to locate in the course of an external examination of a sheep or goat, therefore it is best to skin the carcass so as to be able to examine the inside of the skin and the flesh. If the tooth marks are distinct then the distance between the canine (eyeteeth) punctures or bruises can be used as additional aid to predator identification. Caracals have upper canines that are 24 to 30mm apart (average 27mm). Dogs of the size of a Border collie upwards have canines which are between 35 and 60mm apart, and dogs often bite at the sheep’s back, flank or hind legs in addition to the neck or throat.

Damage prevention
Caracal can be excluded from an area by using wine-netting fence with stones packed along the base to prevent animals crawling underneath, and an overhang on top to ensure that the caracal does not climb over the fence. This, in combination with an electric wire or two running along the fence can be very effective but must be maintained adequately.

Your local nature conservation officer will be able to provide you with electric fence specifications and the names of suppliers.

Control
Careful consideration must be given to specific situations. If you were a small stock farmer surrounded by cattle farming areas or forestry land for example, the best option would be to exclude the caracal from the property or selected paddocks and then eliminate those within the enclosure. If you are part of a community that has a caracal problem, consideration should be given to a combined effort such as employing a hunter with a well-trained pack of dogs. Bearing in mind that caracal can eventually come in from nearly 200km away; there must be constant control pressure in a problem area.

Another approach would be to accept caracal on the property and only deal with those individuals that kill sheep. It is often the young males, older animals and wandering males that do the most damage. Resident adult males often ensure that such individuals do not intrude in their territory thus keeping them off the property.

Caracals are seldom killed using humane coyote getters, but can be caught in gin taps (slagysters), cage traps which they walk into, or by using a pack of hounds. Traps may be set at a kill, particularly one that has not been disturbed, or they can be carefully located beside routes used by caracal. Gin traps should not be set under holes in fences or in footpaths, as non-target animals will be caught.

Caracal urine or faeces can be used as lures at gin traps, and various methods are used to attract Caracals into cage traps, including smelly baits, rotting fish, urine and faeces from other Caracals, a piece of skin or even a bunch of chicken feathers on a string. Again, your local conservation officer will provide guidance where necessary on lures and trapping.

The success of any control technique will depend on the method, not the apparatus used. There is no substitute for experience and effort.