What is a caracal?

Some of you out there may be unfamiliar with the caracal. So for you - and please forgive me if I am telling you what you already know - here is a brief description.
The caracal is the largest of the small cats in Africa (the small cats are a group made up of 30 species of the genus Felis). It can range in size from 6-19 kg with the males being larger and more heavily built than the females. Different populations also vary in size and colour is also variable ranging from tawny to reddish brown. Its most distinctive feature though is its large black ears (the word caracal comes from the Turkish karakulak or 'black ear') which are topped with dark tufts resembling those of the lynx. Despite appearances though it is not closely related to the lynx. It has long legs and a tail which is about one third of its body length. It is a solitary cat, except for females with kittens and mating encounters, and litter sizes range from one to four kittens. It is also mainly nocturnal, although in areas where there is less human disturbance it may sometimes be active during daylight hours. The caracal's natural prey species are small to medium-sized antelope, small carnivores, rabbits and hares, rodents and birds.
In southern Africa the caracal is also known to take livestock (mainly sheep and goats) and as a result is heavily persecuted by small stock farmers.

Hello and welcome

Hello and welcome to this new blog from Botswana in the wild and beautiful Kalahari.
Firstly, let me introduce myself. I am a PhD researcher from Durham University in the UK and am doing my fieldwork in the Ghanzi District of Botswana.
I am researching human-predator conflict in the Ghanzi farmlands, with particular focus on the caracal (Caracal caracal) and its relationship with the black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas), although I am interested in all the predators that occur in this area.
Predator species that live alongside people and their domestic livestock here include lion (Panthera leo), leopard (Panthera pardus), cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), brown hyaena (Hyaena brunnea), caracal and black-backed jackal.
I shall be carrying out spoor surveys and camera trapping to get estimates of abundance and relative density of predators on farms of different usage. I shall also be doing line transects to establish the abundance of natural prey species and scat analysis to try to determine what caracal and jackal are eating.
On the human side I shall be conducting informal and semi-structured interviews and doing a questionnaire survey with farmers, farm workers, wildlife officials and other stakeholders to try to establish the attitudes and perceptions of people in the area to the predators.