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What the sources say

CaracalCaracal caracal

Every figure, record and mechanism on the Caracal profile was written from a source, and this is the working table behind it: 50 claims checked word for word against these sources. The left column is what the page says. The right column is the source's own words, copied, not paraphrased; a ... marks a cut and[brackets] an insertion. Open any source and check it yourself.

Profile updated

Source
01

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

Caracal. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.

The page sayscapable of vertical anti-gravity leaps up to ten feet and mid-air bird snatches
The source saysleaping up to 10 feet (3 meters) to swat a flying birdNote: tagline paraphrase of the same leap figure; 'anti-gravity' is voice, not a claim
The page saysVertical Leaps Up to 10 Feet to Snatch Birds Out of the Air
The source saysleaping up to 10 feet (3 meters) to swat a flying bird
The page saysSavannas, Semi-Deserts & Scrub Woodlands
The source sayssavanna, semi-desert, dry woodland, arid hilly steppe, and dry mountains
The page saysfound across much of Africa, the Middle East and into India
The source saysThe caracal ranges across Africa and the Middle East to India
The page saysthe heaviest and also the fastest of the small cats
The source saysCaracals are the heaviest and also the fastest of the small cats
The page saysthe largest small cat in Africa
The source saysare the largest of the small cats in Africa
The page saysFemales weigh 6 to 16 kg (13 to 35 lb)
The source saysFemales are 13 to 35 pounds (6 to 16 kilograms)
The page saysmales 8 to 20 kg (18 to 44 lb)
The source saysmales are 18 to 44 pounds (8 to 20 kilograms)
The page saysstanding about 46 cm (18 inches) at the shoulder
The source saysHeight at shoulder: About 18 inches (46 centimeters)
The page saysa body 61 to 106 cm long
The source saysLength: 24 to 42 inches (61 to 106 centimeters)
The page saysIn expert care a caracal can reach 17 years old; in the wild, more like 12
The source saysUp to 17 years in expert care, about 12 years in the wildernessNote: current SDZ page used over ADW's older 20.3-year captive record, per 'check the date'
The page saysleaping up to 10 feet (3 meters) to swat a flying bird
The source saysleaping up to 10 feet (3 meters) to swat a flying bird
The page saysthe most widely accepted theory is that caracals twitch them "as a way to communicate with fellow caracals"
The source saysthe most widely accepted theory is that the cat twitches its ear tufts as a way to communicate with fellow caracals
The page saysother theories about keeping flies away or breaking up the cat's outline in grass
The source saysThe tufts may help keep flies out of the cat's face or help to camouflage the caracal in tall grass by breaking up the outline of the cat's head
The page saysCaracals have been part of human life for hundreds of years
The source sayscaracals have been a part of humans’ lives for hundreds of years
The page saysowners held contests over how many pigeons a cat could bring down in a single try, often reaching "10 or more."
The source saysOwners would have contests to see how many pigeons their cat could bring down in a single try, often reaching 10 or more!
The page saysThat practice is the source of the English phrase "to put a cat among the pigeons."
The source saysThe saying “to put a cat among the pigeons” comes from this ancient practice
The page saysUp to 3 meters (10 feet). San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance records caracals leaping that high to swat a flying bird
The source saysleaping up to 10 feet (3 meters) to swat a flying bird
The page saysthe most widely accepted theory is that caracals twitch their ear tufts to communicate with each other
The source saysthe most widely accepted theory is that the cat twitches its ear tufts as a way to communicate with fellow caracals
The page sayssprings 3 m straight up to swat a flying bird
The source saysleaping up to 10 feet (3 meters) to swat a flying birdNote: task #617: vibe.reason mechanism
The page saystags: super-speed
The source saysthe heaviest and also the fastest of the small catsNote: task #617: kept; the body's type IIx finding is the rapid-twitch half of the definition. No km/h figure exists in any cached source, so none is stated.
The page saysdangerLevel: Medium
The source saysOccasionally, caracals kill mammals as large as an impala or young kudu and may attack domestic livestockNote: task #617: High to Medium. A 6 to 20 kg cat with real weapons (prey two to three times its mass, livestock) but no source in the pack records an attack on a person; the serval and ocelot sit at Medium on the same reading. battleStats.weightKg left unrecorded: SDZ's 6 to 16 kg females and 8 to 20 kg males straddle the 10 kg Light/Medium line, and the caracal is in no curated matchup.

Source
02

Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan

Caracal caracal (caracal). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

The page saysCarnivore (Rodents, Hyraxes, Hares, Birds, Small Antelope)
The source saysbulk of the diet is made up of hyraxes, hares, rodents, antelopes, small monkeys, and birds
The page saysthe caracal turns its long, heavily muscled hind legs into a spring
The source saysthe hind legs are disproportionately tall and well muscled
The page saysAnimal Diversity Web says the exact function is "unknown."
The source saysThe exact function of the ear tufts on C. caracal is unknown
The page saysMammals, not birds, make up over half the diet in every part of the range
The source saysmammals make up over half of their diet in all ranges
The page saysHyraxes, hares, rodents, small antelope, monkeys and birds are the bulk of it
The source saysbulk of the diet is made up of hyraxes, hares, rodents, antelopes, small monkeys, and birds
The page saysa caracal can take down prey two to three times its own mass
The source sayscaracals can take down prey two to three times their massNote: ADW's 'Unique among cats of their size' exclusivity dropped: an absolute resting on one old student-written page
The page sayshyraxes get a killing bite to the nape, while something as large as a gazelle gets a suffocating throat bite instead
The source saysSmall prey such as hyraxes are killed with a bite to the nape, while large prey, such as gazelles are killed with a suffocating throat bite
The page saysIn India and Persia, caracals were once trained to catch game birds
The source saysIn India and Persia, caracals were once trained to catch game birds and deer
The page saysWild caracals otherwise hunt alone, hold a territory
The source saysCaracals are solitary, except for the duration of mating and rearing of kits. Both sexes are territorial and maintain an active home range.
The page sayslie flat in the open, where their plain coat acts as instant camouflage
The source saysWhen threatened in their preferred, open habitats, caracals lie flat and their plain, brown coats act as instant camouflage
The page saysTheir known predators, lions, leopards and hyenas, do not regularly hunt them
The source saystheir known predators (e.g., lions and hyenas) do not regularly hunt themNote: leopards added from the 'Known Predators' list (lions, leopards, hyenas); the 'do not regularly hunt them' line names only lions and hyenas as examples
The page saysoff hind legs that Animal Diversity Web describes as disproportionately tall and well muscled
The source saysthe hind legs are disproportionately tall and well muscledNote: hind-leg build from adw-caracal's physical description; fast-twitch/type IIx point is the lion-2013 finding covered elsewhere in the body
The page saysAnimal Diversity Web says the exact function of the tufts is unknown
The source saysThe exact function of the ear tufts on C. caracal is unknown
The page saysAnimal Diversity Web says caracals can take down prey two to three times their mass
The source sayscaracals can take down prey two to three times their mass
The page saysSmall prey like hyraxes get a killing bite to the nape; something as large as a gazelle gets a suffocating throat bite instead
The source saysSmall prey such as hyraxes are killed with a bite to the nape, while large prey, such as gazelles are killed with a suffocating throat bite
The page saystags: carnivore
The source sayscaracals are strict carnivoresNote: task #617: replaces insectivore; no cached source puts insects in the diet, and ADW's Animal Foods are birds, mammals and reptiles

Source
03

Kohn & Noakes 2012

Kohn & Noakes (2012). Lion (Panthera leo) and caracal (Caracal caracal) type IIx single muscle fibre force and power exceed that of trained humans. Journal of Experimental Biology.

The page saysonly type IIx fibres turned up, the fast-twitch kind built for one quick, powerful effort instead of endurance
The source saysOnly type IIx muscle fibres were identified in the caracal sample
The page saysthe trained human cyclists in the same study had no pure type IIx fibres
The source saysthere were no pure type IIx fibres
The page saysThe cat's fibres are smaller than a human's
The source saysthe lion and caracal fibres were smaller (P<0.01) in cross-sectional area
The page saysyet produced "~3 times more power" than the human fast-twitch fibres
The source says~3 times more power (29.0-30.3 kN m(-2) fibre lengths s(-1)) than the human IIax fibres (100-150 kN m(-2), 4-11 kN m(-2) fibre lengths s(-1))
The page saysIts explosive type IIx fibres are smaller than a human's
The source saysthe lion and caracal fibres were smaller (P<0.01) in cross-sectional areaNote: blockquote restates the type IIx and fibre-size findings cited above
The page saysstill put out about three times the power
The source says~3 times more power (29.0-30.3 kN m(-2) fibre lengths s(-1)) than the human IIax fibres (100-150 kN m(-2), 4-11 kN m(-2) fibre lengths s(-1))
The page sayson muscle made of pure fast-twitch fibres built for one explosive effort rather than endurance
The source saysOnly type IIx muscle fibres were identified in the caracal sampleNote: task #617: vibe.reason mechanism; same finding as the body's type IIx sentence

Source
04

Kohn et al. 2011

Kohn et al. (2011). Fiber type and metabolic characteristics of lion (Panthera leo), caracal (Caracal caracal) and human skeletal muscle. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology.

The page sayscaracal muscle leans on quick, oxygen-free energy release over the slow-burn kind human runners use
The source saysOxidative capacity of both felids ... was lower than humans, whereas the glycolytic capacity was elevated
The page sayswhich the researchers said "confirm their sprinting behavior."
The source saysThese data on caracal and lion muscles confirm their sprinting behavior.

Source
05

Mukherjee et al. 2004

Mukherjee et al. (2004). The importance of rodents in the diet of jungle cat (Felis chaus), caracal (Caracal caracal) and golden jackal (Canis aureus) in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, India. Journal of Zoology.

The page saysOne scat study at Rajasthan's Sariska Tiger Reserve found rodents alone supplying "up to 70%" of the local wild cats' daily energy
The source saysUp to 70% of the daily metabolizable energy in felids was obtained from rodents, as compared to 45% in the jackalNote: scoped to the felids in that Sariska Tiger Reserve study, not caracals generally

Source
06

Avgan, Henschel & Ghoddousi 2016

Avgan, Henschel & Ghoddousi (2016). Caracal caracal. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T3847A102424310.

The page saysLeast Concern
The source saysLeast ConcernNote: category verified through GBIF's copy of the Red List for Caracal caracal, per the assessment DOI
The page saysThe IUCN lists the species as Least Concern.
The source saysLeast ConcernNote: category verified through GBIF's copy of the Red List, per the assessment DOI; iucnredlist.org itself refuses scripts

How the table was made: a writer drafted the profile from these sources and logged each claim with its quote, a reviewer with nothing but this table checked every sentence said no more than its quote, and a script confirmed each quote appears word for word in the source. The method is in the site'sAbout page.