The Syahgosh (‘syah’= black in Persian, ‘gosh’= ear) or Caracal is, arguably, the least known cat species of India.The following article tries to trace the Caracal's hazy tracks through the sands of time in the enigmatic sal forests of east-central India.
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Along with the Indian cheetah, the 'black-eared one’ is another cat that thoroughly fascinates and intrigues me. Infact the ‘sport’ of hunting by trained caracals was often a sideshow to the primary ‘sport’ of coursing with, now extinct, cheetahs. 
An exquisite painting of caracals drawn by Joseph Wolf and published in a monograph entitled A Monograph of the Felididae or Family of Cats [1878-1883] by Daniel Giraud Elliot. This is my favourite vintage illustration of these incredible cats.
Caracals were historically often recorded from the arid regions of Madhya Pradesh. MP Forest Dept. recently launched a public campaign inviting the public to bring to their notice any sightings of the cryptic cat since the last one they had officially recorded in 2007 in Bhind.
While MP tries to look for the last of its caracals, do they still survive further east of MP? Well, nobody knows. But they were once infrequently encountered in these areas. And this article dwells into those historical accounts of their presence in east-central India.
Fin.
Fin.
