Standing only 40-45 centimeters at the shoulder, and weighing less than 20 kilograms, this efficient hunter can, although exceptionally, kill an animal the size of a nearly fully-grown impala ram. Powerful, fast and a master of the art of stalking and ambush, the caracal makes good use of its powerful claws to bring down its prey. On the menu of this tufted-eared cat appear strangely varied items, like young baboons, monkeys, eagles, snakes and even fruit. Probably of the most handsome of all wild cats, the caracal cannot stand up in self-defense against the bigger carnivores. Abundant in the absence of larger carnivores to the extent of becoming a pest on farms, killing sheep and goats, the caracal is rare in natural havens of the lion, leopard and spotted hyena....as in the Kruger National Park.