Meet Our Animals

Caracal

Caracal (Lynx caracal)
Range: Africa and into the Middle East
Status: Listed on the Endangered Species Red List

Caracals are 30- to 50-pound wild cats with an ever-shrinking native range. They are very agile and are capable of jumping up to catch birds that have just taken off. They been recorded jumping more than six feet up, and are renowned for being able to take out more than one bird in a single jump! They also hunt small mammals, lizards, and (occasionally) domestic goats and sheep. Their success in taking livestock has meant several countries have put a bounty on them, contributing to their declining population.

Aretha Franklin Caracal

Aretha and her brother Charlie were born at a small North Carolina zoo. The staff at the Conservators’ Center offered to help hand-rear the two cubs because the zoo staff was inexperienced with carnivores. Our founders took the cubs home when they were five days old.

When Charlie was only 10 weeks old, he began to have neurological symptoms and seizures. He died shortly thereafter of a heritable kind of cardiomyopathy, a serious heart defect. The Center’s staff made the decision not to breed Aretha, since she is likely to carry that trait and may pass it off to her cubs.

Aretha bonded with the house cats, and spent a lot of time playing tug-of-war with them. Then she made friends with a little bobcat, learning to speak with her tail, since the bobcat had trouble speaking with her ears like a caracal would.

Finally, the Center took in a male caracal as a companion for her. Aretha and Taz took a while to warm up to each other, but they get along well now. They argue when food is involved, but the rest of the time they seem to enjoy spending time together on their swing bench. They do look a bit embarrassed when seen being affectionate with one another.

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