Caracal caracal (Schreber 1776)

[Felis] caracal Schreber 1776, Die Saugethiere, Vol. 3, 16: pl. 110 [1776]; see als text 3 (24): 413, 587 [1777].

Type Locality: "Vorgebirge der guten Hofnung", restricted by J. A. Allen (1924:281) to "Table Mountain, near Cape Town, South Africa ".

Vernacular Names: Caracal.

Subspecies::

Subspecies Caracal caracal subsp. caracal Schreber 1776

Subspecies Caracal caracal subsp. algira Wagner 1841

Subspecies Caracal caracal subsp. damarensis Roberts 1926

Subspecies Caracal caracal subsp. limpopoensis Roberts 1926

Subspecies Caracal caracal subsp. lucani Rochebrune 1885

Subspecies Caracal caracal subsp. nubica J. B. Fischer 1829

Subspecies Caracal caracal subsp. poecilotis Thomas and Hinton 1921

Subspecies Caracal caracal subsp. schmitzi Matschie 1912

Distribution: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso (?), Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Dem. Rep. Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Malawi, Mali (?), Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Conservation: CITES – Appendix I (Asian population); otherwise, Appendix II; IUCN – Least Concern.

Discussion: J. A. Allen (1924) discussed the authority. Subspecies allocated according to G. M. Allen (1939), Ellerman et al. (1953), and Smithers (1971).