A karakal (steppe lynx) kitten

A karakal kitten is not available to everyone today. At home, they are trying to breed these wild cats , but to this day the breed can not be called widespread.

It is believed that the karakala kitten tame with ease and danger for domestic (including for humans) does not represent. With tamed steppe trot (another name of this animal) you can hunt small game - peacocks, pheasants, hares and even antelopes.

By the way, in the East such hunting in antiquity was very popular. True, the caracals were caught and left mostly poor people, because the rich preferred large and powerful cheetahs. Hunting with the steppe trot is now a rarity.

These cats are beautiful and charming, with the same color - sandy or reddish-sandy, with a lighter stomach and throat. The largest individuals exceed 80 cm in length, in height - 45 cm (in the shoulders). The average weight is 12 kg. The length of the jump when hunting is 4.5 m. A distinctive feature is dark gray, highly planted (almost vertically) ears with long black tassels (about 5 cm in height). It is thanks to this feature that this animal was called a caracal (in translation, "karakalik" means nothing but a "black eye"). There are also absolutely black caracals, however these are rare enough specimens.

Kittens of the caracal (photo below), contrary to the prevailing opinion, do not always have spots scattered around the children's fur coat. Often at a fairly early age they acquire the color of an adult animal (permanent).

Agree, they are so sweet that the question is maturing by itself: how many are the karaks of the caracal? The price, I must say, is very "biting". If, for example, the maine coon is on average $ 800, then the caracal - by an order of magnitude (or even two) is more expensive - about 9-9.5 thousand cu.

Why did the kitten so expensive and so rarely found in homes as a pet? First, most caracals (several of them, but all of them are similar) are active in the evening and at night, and this is often inconvenient for a person.

Secondly, the animal feeds on the meat of the game it has caught. And jars of "Whiskas", as you know, it will not be enough. Provide full nutrition to a wild cat at home is very difficult.

Thirdly, the caracals are not prolific (the female leads one or two kittens) and grow up later than ordinary domestic cats. They become sexually mature after one and a half years. The karakala grows slowly, until a month and a half, feeding exclusively on the milk of the mother (there is meat, unlike the same domestic cats, it begins only after 1.5 months). And to wean the baby from the mother before six or seven months is undesirable (in nature, he lives with her for up to a year).

Fourthly, the karakal kitten should have enough space for playing and walking in the future, so it is not suitable for keeping in an apartment, even a large one. And since the jumping ability of this animal is quite impressive, there is always the risk of its escape, even with high fences.

It turns out that it is not only expensive but also troublesome to keep several individuals of the caracal for breeding in captivity. Moreover, the diseases of steppe cats (as well as their character) have so far been very poorly studied. And this means that you will not be guaranteed any guarantees of your absolute safety while staying with a wild (even tame) cat ...