Abstract
This article provides information about 27 records of the Caracal Caracal caracal in Uzbekistan, particularly in the Kyzylkum Desert and the Ustyurt Plateau. The data collected between 2011 and 2017 were based on information from literary sources, field research, and interviews with local people. At least 11 individuals of the species were killed intentionally and one was run over by a car. Basic threats to the species in Uzbekistan are negative interactions between herders and Caracal, lack of knowledge about its protected status among local people, and lack of conservation measures. The preconditions for the protection of Caracal are the existence of remote unpopulated areas close to state borders between adjacent countries and socio-economic factors that prompt people to move from rural to urban areas. Caracal habitats are protected in Kyzylkum State Reserve, Saigachiy Landscape Sanctuary, and six wildlife sanctuaries. To conserve Caracal, it is necessary to strengthen the network of protected areas in deserts and raise the awareness of local communities and decision-makers in the national government. It is important to continue research on Caracal and develop a government-approved action plan for its conservation.
Highlights
The Caracal Caracal caracal is one of the rarest vertebrates in central Asia, where it occurs in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, northern Iran, and Afghanistan (Heptner & Sludskii 1972)
The Turkmen Caracal is included as Critically Endangered in the Red Data Books of Uzbekistan (Abdunazarov 2009) and Kazakhstan (Bekenov & Kasabekov 2010) and as Endangered in the Red Data Book of Turkmenistan (Hodzhamuradov & Imamov 2011)
We showed them images of wild cats that possibly occur in the area (Asiatic Wildcat Felis lybica ornata, Jungle Cat F. chaus, Sand Cat F. margarita, Manul Otocolobus manul, and Caracal), of species that certainly do not occur in Uzbekistan (Andean Cat Leopardus jacobita and Fishing Cat Prionailurus viverrinus), and of species that historically occurred in the area (Cheetah Acinonyx jubatus and Tiger Panthera tigris)
Summary
The Caracal Caracal caracal is one of the rarest vertebrates in central Asia, where it occurs in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, northern Iran, and Afghanistan (Heptner & Sludskii 1972). In the 20th Century, the Caracal was recorded on Uzbekistan’s Ustyurt Plateau, in Lower Amudarya area, northwestern and southwestern parts of Kyzylkum Desert, and the plains adjoining Surkhan and Zeravshan rivers (Heptner & Sludskii 1972; Mitropolsky 1979; Lesnyak et al 1984; Bogdanov 1992; Abdunazarov 2009). It inhabits bumpy, well-fixed sands along the Ustyurt Plateau escarpments and on gypsum and stony plains (Sapojnikov 1962; Heptner & Sludskii 1972). Sometimes it hunts Goitered Gazelle Gazella subgutturosa, Red Fox Vulpes vulpes, and lambs of Domestic Sheep Ovis aries (Sapojnikov 1960, 1962)
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