What is the maximal age a Caracal reaches?
An adult Caracal (Caracal caracal) usually gets as old as 17 years.
Caracals are around 71 days in the womb of their mother. When born, they weight 196 grams (0.43 lbs) and measure 37.5 cm (1′ 3″). As a member of the Felidae family (genus: Caracal), their offspring is 2 babies per pregnancy. Fully grown, they reach a bodylength of 74.1 cm (2′ 6″).
As a reference: Usually, humans get as old as 100 years, with the average being around 75 years. After being carried in the belly of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks), they grow to an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) and weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual.
The caracal (Caracal caracal) is a medium-sized wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long tufted ears, 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 8–18 kg (18–40 lb). It was first scientifically described by German naturalist Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber in 1776. Three subspecies are recognised since 2017.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 small mammals, birds, and rodents. It can leap higher than 4 m (12 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 its prey 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.Caracals have been tamed and used for hunting since the time of ancient Egypt.
Animals of the same family as a Caracal
Not really brothers and sisters, but from the same biological family (Felidae):
- African golden cat with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Pampas cat with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Cheetah becoming 19 years old
- Leopard cat becoming 15 years old
- Rusty-spotted cat with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Bay cat growing to a mass of 3.43 kgs (7.56 lbs)
- Iberian lynx with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Jaguar becoming 23 years old
- Eurasian lynx becoming 26.75 years old
- Kodkod becoming 11 years old
Animals that reach the same age as Caracal
With an average age of 17 years, Caracal are in good companionship of the following animals:
- Dall sheep usually reaching 16 years
- Clouded leopard usually reaching 17 years
- Hirola usually reaching 15.17 years
- Black howler usually reaching 20.25 years
- Gemsbok usually reaching 20 years
- Madagascan fruit bat usually reaching 20 years
- Klipspringer usually reaching 17.75 years
- Cougar usually reaching 20 years
- Gray mouse lemur usually reaching 15.5 years
- Bat-eared fox usually reaching 13.75 years
Animals with the same number of babies Caracal
The same number of babies at once (2) are born by:
- Black-shouldered opossum
- American black bear
- Musky rat-kangaroo
- Common yellow-toothed cavy
- Round-tailed muskrat
- Pampas cat
- Marsh rabbit
- Northern pygmy mouse
- Buller’s chipmunk
- Tres Marías Island mouse
Weighting as much as Caracal
A fully grown Caracal reaches around 11.98 kg (26.42 lbs). So do these animals:
- Black-footed gray langur weighting 10.03 kilos (22.11 lbs) on average
- Ground pangolin weighting 11.92 kilos (26.28 lbs) on average
- European badger weighting 11.89 kilos (26.21 lbs) on average
- Siamang weighting 10.84 kilos (23.9 lbs) on average
- Siberian musk deer weighting 13.31 kilos (29.34 lbs) on average
- Ocelot weighting 11.89 kilos (26.21 lbs) on average
- Pacarana weighting 12.5 kilos (27.56 lbs) on average
- Capped langur weighting 11.21 kilos (24.71 lbs) on average
- Barbary macaque weighting 11.49 kilos (25.33 lbs) on average
- Grizzled tree-kangaroo weighting 12.61 kilos (27.8 lbs) on average
Animals as big as a Caracal
Those animals grow as big as a Caracal:
- Gee’s golden langur with 60.5 cm (2′ 0″)
- Golden snub-nosed monkey with 64.7 cm (2′ 2″)
- Cameroon clawless otter with 83.7 cm (2′ 9″)
- Sulawesi palm civet with 68.9 cm (2′ 4″)
- Hairy-nosed otter with 76.5 cm (2′ 7″)
- Thomson’s gazelle with 88.5 cm (2′ 11″)
- Ursine colobus with 63.5 cm (2′ 1″)
- European badger with 70.7 cm (2′ 4″)
- Blue duiker with 69.2 cm (2′ 4″)
- Siamang with 82.4 cm (2′ 9″)