What are Caracals? Rajasthan Forest Minister shares first sighting of endangered species on Holi

“The strong protection regime of Mukundra hills tiger reserve serves as an umbrella to protect elusive small cats like the Caracal,” Sharma wrote on X where he posted the photo of the medium-sized cat.

He noted that the visuals were recorded from the Winter Phase IV survey of the reserve.
https://twitter.com/Sanjay4India1/status/1900555034078965966

What are Caracals?

Native to dozens of countries across Africa, Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia, the Caracal is a primarily nocturnal cat species known for its distinct and pointy ears, which give the animal its name. The word caracal is derived from the Turkish word ‘karakulak’, meaning ‘black ears’.

These cats were valued for their ability to catch birds mid-flight and were hunting animals in medieval India with descriptions of them found in texts like Khamsa-e-Nizami and Shahnameh and Tutinama.

The caracal has historically lived in 13 Indian states, in nine out of the 26 biotic provinces.

‘Critically endangered’ status

In recent years, the population of the wild cat has seen a sharp decline in Asia and is estimated to be not more than 50 in India, where they are now only found in parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Their population halved from the period before Independence to 2000. Their population faced a further declined of over 95 per cent from 2001 to 2020. Their current presence is currently restricted to 16,709 sq km, less than 5 per cent of the area where occurrences were reported from 1948 to 2000.

In 2021, the National Board for Wildlife and Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change added its name to the list of critically endangered species.

In recent years, cases have been detected of the animal being captured to be sold as exotic pets.

Experts suggest that their declining numbers could be attributed to a loss of habitat and increasing urbanisation, which affect its ability to spot prey which include small ungulates and rodents.

Moreover, their natural habitat, Chambal ravines, have been classified has wastelands, and not much has been done to restore the ecology.

From the homepage

Pakistani ‘person of interest’ arrested recently was in touch with Sonam Wangchuk, sent reports across border, claims Ladakh DGP

IAS officer removed for ‘administrative reasons’ after technical glitches at PM’s Rajasthan rally

Five killed, one critical as Thar crashes into divider on Delhi-Jaipur Expressway