Caracal caracal
Silhouette: Margot Michaud · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The caracal (Caracal caracal) is a wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long tufted ears, relatively short tail, and long canine teeth. Its coat is uniformly reddish tan or sandy, while the ventral parts are lighter with small reddish markings. It reaches 40–50 cm (16–20 in) at the shoulder and weighs 8–19 kg (18–42 lb). It was first scientifically described by German naturalist Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber in 1776. Three subspecies are recognised.
Typically nocturnal, the caracal is highly secretive and difficult to observe. It is territorial, and lives mainly alone or in pairs. The caracal is a carnivore that typically preys upon birds, rodents, and other small mammals. It can leap higher than 3.0 m (9.8 ft) and catch birds in midair. It stalks its prey until it is within 5 m (16 ft) of it, after which it runs it down and kills it with a bite to the throat or to the back of the neck. Both sexes become sexually mature by the time they are one year old and breed throughout the year. Gestation lasts between two and three months, resulting in a litter of one to six kittens. Juveniles leave their mothers at the age of nine to ten months, though a few females stay back with their mothers. The average lifespan of captive caracals is nearly 16 years. Wikipedia →
Recording0:28
South Africa · 2026
© Fayruz Prins · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | De Hoop Nature Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 5 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 7 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 8 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 9 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Caracal sighting in Cape Town on a given day, based on 77 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 10th most-seen of the 29 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Caracal in Cape Town on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Caracal sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
Only Cape Town, in our data
Cape Town is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Caracal sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same order: Carnivora
The closest relatives of the Caracal that you can see in Cape Town (order Carnivora, Carnivorans) are Afro-Australian Fur Seal (about 30%), Cape Gray Mongoose (about 10%) and Marsh Mongoose (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Caracal is recorded against all the mammals logged in Cape Town (77 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
