If you’ve ever thought of the caracal before, you’ve probably pictured it inhabiting the savannas of Africa, its long-fringed ears sticking up above the wild grasses. But although the caracal (Caracal caracal) is best known from its African habitats, a tiny population persists in India. It’s here, on the Chambal River, that a tourist, Vaibhav Sanghavi, took an astoundingly unusual photo of a caracal — a medium-sized wild cat with stunning ears — swimming the large river. The photo is noteworthy not only because of the cat’s unusual aquatic behavior, but because it was taken in Madhya Pradesh, a central Indian state where the caracal was recently declared extinct by the Forestry Department. “Quite surprising!” is how Shreyas Vijay describes the photo. “This is likely the first-ever recorded instance of such behavior in Asiatic caracals.” Vijay, the founder of India’s Caracal Conservation and Research Project, spends most of his time studying the charismatic cats in Gujarat state, west of Madhya Pradesh. The caracal is endangered in India according to the IUCN Red List, with fewer than 100 individuals estimated across the whole country. In addition to Africa and India, the caracal is also found in the Middle East as well as Central and Southwest Asia. Tourist Vaibhav Sanghavi took an unusual photo of a caracal swimming the large Chambal river. Image by Vaibhav Sanghavi. Researchers have observed caracals fording rivers in Africa; that includes Vijay, who saw one swim the Berk River in South Africa. But this is a first…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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