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| Caracal |
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What
is a caracal?
Caracals,
also called the “African or desert lynx," are medium-sized cats. Caracals range throughout most of
African into Asia, and historically caracals were found everywhere cheetahs
were. Caracals have elegant long
tufted-eared with reddish brown fur and white underbelly, chin and throat. They are approximately three feet long,
with a tail about a foot long. They have light colored eyes with a black line
running from each eye to the nose.
Caracals (like all cats) are strict carnivores, hunting rodents,
rabbits, birds, and antelope.
Almost no research has been conducted on caracals- making this study so
necessary and exciting!
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Project Synopsis:
This
multimedia Internet-based project with Cheetah Kids is a unique opportunity for
school-aged children to be a part of wildlife field research as it
happens in Namibia, Africa. Students worldwide can explore Namibia with
wildlife biologist Aletris Neils as she conducts her groundbreaking study of
the caracal and the other animals it lives with.
Project Goals:
- Educate about caracals and its ecosystem through fascinating
learning activities that school-aged children can
conduct on their own, with their family or in classrooms.
- Facilitate discovery and appreciation for carnivore and the natural
world.
- Reveal how exciting and engaging science can be.
- Be an example of how scientists can effectively convey their
research to young people.
- Demonstrate why working with people within the ecosystem is a
vital component to conservation.
Activities:
- Follow radio collared caracals as they move through the Namibian
bush.
- Analyze caracal home ranges and movements from data collected from
radio collars via maps.
- Identify pictures and videos of Namibian wildlife taken with
camera traps.
- Learn and identify various attributes of caracal’s ecosystem.
- View video segments to understand more about wildlife field
research.
- Question and answer forum where kids can ask questions of a
wildlife biologist in the field.
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| Aletris Neils |
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Aletris Neils
Ph.D. Candidate for Wildlife Conservation and Management, University
of Arizona
Since 2000, Aletris Neils has been working with
carnivores. Aletris began her career
working as an education specialist for the Phoenix Zoo. She has worked with both state and federal wildlife
organizations.
Aletris is primarily
interested in resolutions for human-carnivore conflicts. Her current research focuses on ecology and conservation of
caracals and servals on Namibian farmlands; this is a collaborative
project with the Cheetah Conservation Fund.
Aletris has received a prestigious Fulbright
Scholarship
to study caracals and their relationship with livestock and farmers in
Africa.
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| Aletris Neils with Dr. Laurie Marker. Answering questions from school children. |
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| Caracal |
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| Link to TrailCamPro |
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| Link to Sirtack to learn more about the GPS tracking collars we use. |
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| Link to Wildlife Materials |
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| For more information about this project |
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