Home‐range use, activity, and density of caracal in relation to prey density

Abstract

Two male and three female caracal Felis caracal were radio‐tracked over a 1‐year period in arid shrub on the west coast of South Africa, by day and night over at least 130 days for each caracal, and uninterrupted for up to 120 h at a time. These results, on short‐term use of space, were related to concurrent availability of prey. The use by caracal of specific plant communities showed a significant positive correlation to prey biomass of rodents. Males had much larger home‐ranges (26.9±0.75 km2) than females (7.39±1.68 km2). Male home‐ranges overlapped completely with those of females, whereas female ranges overlapped between 0 and 19%. Caracal were active by night and day; onset of activity was affected more by ambient temperature (TA) than photoperiod. Caracal were active significantly longer on nights colder than 20°C. Females ceased activity at TA > 20°C, males at TA > 22°C. Males foraged faster than females (667 vs. 312 m h−1) and moved more than twice the distance of females during an active period. Calculated density of caracal was between 0.23 and 0.47 km−2.

Ecological networks as a new approach for nature conservation in Turkey: A case study of İzmir Province

“…H. hyaena is a species mostly confined to areas between 250 and 2500 m above sea level in barren lands, dry woodland habitats, and open or rocky habitats in eastern and south-eastern Turkey. The habitats preferred by L. lynx are mainly large deciduous mixed-coniferous forests, open wooded regions in the eastern Black Sea region and Mediterranean region of Turkey Table 1 Estimates of the relevant parameters for target species (Jochem et al, 2002;Wagner et al, 2008;Klaver, 2003;Avenant and Nel, 1998;Bouwma et al, 2002).…”

“…Relevant vegetation/habitat types for the selected species were compiled from the land cover map by overall habitat preferences of the targeted animals using relevant literature (Can, 2004;Demirsoy, 1992;Humphrey and Bain, 1990;Klaver, 2003;Wagner, 2006;Palomares et al, 2005;Avenant and Nel, 1998). In this process, country/region-specific data regarding the habitat requirements of the target species were particularly valuable and emphasized in this study.…”

“…The estimates of relevant parameters were derived from literature including Jochem et al (2002); Wagner et al (2008); Klaver (2003); Avenant and Nel (1998); data collected from regulatory agencies on national and international projects (Bouwma et al, 2002) and personal interviews (Table 1). "Carrying Capacity" (CC) is calculated by taking the number of "estimated" Reproductive Units (RU) into account for each habitat patch and classified into four different groups such as "No Carrying Capacity (NCC)", "Small Patch (SP)", "Key Patch (KP)" and "Minimum Viable Population (MVP)" (Table 2) (Verboom and Pouwels, 2004).…”

Do free-ranging domestic goats show ‘landscapes of fear’? Patch use in response to habitat features and predator cues

“…Caracals have large home ranges and can move over wide areas (Avenant and Nel, 1998;Van Heezik and Seddon, 1998). Due to this mobility, a caracal could easily defecate in one area, but be hiding elsewhere within the landscape.…”

Range size and den use of Gordon's wildcats Felis silvestris gordoni in the Emirate of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

“…By judging from the male wildcat's seasonal and monthly ranges we can suggest an annual home range for males close to a third larger than the females'. These larger home ranges may be explained by both lower prey availability in more arid areas, as has been found in two studies of caracal, Caracal caracal (Avenant and Nel, 1998;Van Heezik and Seddon, 1998), and the larger body size of F. silvestris compared to F. nigripes. Climatological changes over the study period may have also influenced range sizes since this was a much drier period than in previous years.…”