About the Caracal
The caracal is one of India's most rarely seen wild cats — a medium-sized, tawny felid with unmistakeable long black-tufted ears that inhabit dry grasslands, scrubland, and open forests across Rajasthan and Gujarat. India sits at the eastern edge of the caracal's global range, and encounters are extraordinarily uncommon, with fewer than 200 individuals estimated to survive in the country.
Caracals are supremely athletic hunters — they can leap 3 metres vertically to snatch birds from the air and are fast enough to catch pigeons and francolin in open country. In India they are classified as Critically Endangered (unlike their global Least Concern status) due to habitat loss and prey depletion. Ranthambore and the surrounding Aravalli scrublands offer the best (though still remote) chances of a sighting. The caracal has near-mythological status among Indian wildlife photographers as one of the continent's most sought-after cats.