IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Melville, H.; du Plessis Bothma, J. | |
| Using Spoor Techniques to Examine the Hunting Behaviour of Caracals in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park | |
| Conference Proceeding | |
San trackers were employed to assist with the interpretation of caracal spoor while conducting research in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. Caracals were spoor-tracked for 535 km, and all identifiable behaviour patterns were noted. Specific sequences of behaviour that related to hunting were identified from the spoor. These sequences were extracted from the data set and were used to analyse the methods used by caracals for hunting. Six component behaviours (crouch, stalk, takeoff, chase, pounce and a kill) of hunting were identified. Based on these behaviours and the sequences in which they occurred it was possible to identify the process by which caracals hunt. Caracals use a flexible hunting technique that is adapted to a specific set of circumstances. Correspondence analysis was used to model the sequence in which the components of hunting should occur to have the greatest chance of a hunt resulting in a kill. The prey selection, killing technique and the hunting success of caracals, with reference to larger prey, was investigated using these methods. A hunting success of 10 % was recorded. Caracals prey upon a variety of prey including many small carnivores. Caracals killed prey using a combination of a throat bite and a nape bite. |
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