To protect and conserve caracals, other lesser-known small cats, and wildlife inhabiting the ecosystem, ensuring the preservation of their habitats while promoting individual welfare. Our efforts are driven by collaborative partnerships with local communities, government agencies, and stakeholders to maintain ecological balance and safeguard these species for future generations.
OUR MISSION
Our Approach
The Vital Four
Wildlife Research and Studies
Encompasses field-based activities like biodiversity surveys, population indices, habitat restoration, and ecological monitoring to understand and secure species and their ecosystems.
Community Engagement
Focuses on empowering local communities through awareness & education, sustainable livelihood programs, and fostering coexistence for long term conservation success.
Data Management and Analysis
Integrates advanced tools to collect, analyse, and interpret data, creating actionable insights for evidence based conservation strategies.
Conservation Action Plan
Addresses critical matters like policy advocacy, human-wildlife conflict, illegal wildlife trade, emergency rescues, and anthropogenic pressures, implementing robust strategies for species recovery.
The Caracal
Built for speed, precision, and silence, the caracal is one of nature's most refined hunter. With its striking black ear tufts and powerful leap, it is a capable of capturing birds mid-air and taking down prey far larger than itself.
Yet despite its remarkable abilities, the Asiatic caracal remains one of the India's least studied and understood carnivores. once widespread, it is now restricted to fragmented pockets across Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, with its population believed to be critically low.
Its survival depends not only on protection, but one understanding something that has been missing for decades.
For the species that exists beyond the spotlight
Image by Robin C Hamilton
The caracal, locally known as “siyah gosh” (meaning black-eared one), has a deep-rooted history in India dating back to at least 1616. Once widely distributed across 13 states, this medium-sized and elusive feline was closely associated with royal hunting traditions. Historical records from the Mughal era highlight its prominence Emperor Jahangir documented the species in 1616, while Akbar included it in the Ain-i-Akbari as a prized hunting animal. Even earlier, Firuz Shah Tughlaq is believed to have maintained dedicated enclosures known as “Siyah-goshdar khana” for training caracals to hunt small deer and birds. Through the 18th and 19th centuries, the species continued to feature prominently in royal courts, valued for its agility and effectiveness in hunting rabbits, birds, and antelopes. However, over the past century, extensive habitat loss has driven a dramatic 95.95% population decline, restricting its presence today largely
Protecting landscapes that others overlook
Our Story
About Us
Working in silence
In the quiet, rugged landscapes of India’s semi-arid wilderness, one of the country’s most elusive predators still survives largely unseen, and dangerously understudied. The Caracal Conservation and Research Project (CCARP) was founded in 2019 to change that.
What began as a response to a critical gap in knowledge has evolved into a focused conservation movement dedicated to the Asiatic caracal and the fragile ecosystems it inhabits. At CCARP, we combine rigorous scientific research with on-ground conservation, working at the intersection of ecology, technology, and community.
Our approach is rooted in the belief that meaningful conservation must be both data-driven and people-centered. Through long-term monitoring, habitat studies, and deep engagement with local communities, we aim to secure a future not just for the caracal, but for the entire landscape it represents.
Over the past few years, CCARP has documented one of the largest datasets on the Asiatic caracal in India, recording over 300 historical sightings across key landscapes. Our fieldwork has revealed new presence areas, captured rare photographic evidence, and expanded understanding of associated wildlife from honey badgers, striped hyenas to desert foxes and elusive small cats. But beyond data, our work extends into communities where awareness, trust, and coexistence form the foundation of long-term conservation success. The caracal is more than a species it is a keystone of its ecosystem. As an apex predator, it regulates prey populations, maintains ecological balance, and supports the health of entire landscapes. When such a species disappears, the consequences ripple outward affecting vegetation, water systems, and ultimately human livelihoods. Conservation, in this context, is not just about saving a wildcat it is about preserving the integrity of an entire ecosystem.
"Because extinction happens quietly"
Challenges faced
Bridging the gap between science, communities, and conservation.
In the quiet, rugged landscapes of India’s semi-arid wilderness, one of the country’s most elusive predators still survives largely unseen, and dangerously understudied. The Caracal Conservation and Research Project (CCARP) was founded in 2019 to change that. What began as a response to a critical gap in knowledge has evolved into a focused conservation movement dedicated to the Asiatic caracal and the fragile ecosystems it inhabits. At CCARP, we combine rigorous scientific research with on-ground conservation, working at the intersection of ecology, technology, and community. Our approach is rooted in the belief that meaningful conservation must be both data-driven and people-centered. Through long-term monitoring, habitat studies, and deep engagement with local communities, we aim to secure a future not just for the caracal, but for the entire landscape it represents.
This is where conservation becomes real!
We envision a future where the Asiatic caracal is no longer a forgotten predator, but a recognised symbol of India’s semi-arid ecosystems.
Our goal is to establish the caracal as a flagship species driving conservation awareness, influencing policy, and securing protection for some of the most overlooked habitats in the country. In doing so, we aim to redefine how conservation is approached in dryland ecosystems across India and beyond.
CHANGING THE WORLD
11
9,800 sq. km
22
Active across multiple high priority landscapes in western and central India
Covering thousands of square kilometres of critical caracal habitat
Studying and documenting a diverse assemblage of desert and dryland species
Where we work
The ecosystems we serve
Our work is rooted in the vast, resilient landscapes of Kutch where thorn forests, scrublands, and seasonal wetlands converge to form one of India’s most unique ecosystems.
Spanning thousands of square kilometers, these habitats support an extraordinary diversity of life, despite receiving limited protection. They are also home to pastoral communities whose lives are deeply intertwined with the land.
While Kutch remains our primary field landscape, CCARP’s work extends beyond Gujarat. Through passive monitoring and local collaborations, we are building a growing presence in Madhya Pradesh and selected landscapes in Rajasthan; regions that continue to hold remnant populations of the Asiatic caracal.
Our Team
CCARP is led by a new generation of conservationists driven by curiosity, field experience, and a deep commitment to overlooked ecosystems. Founded by Shreyas Vijay, whose early encounter with a caracal at Ranthambore National Park sparked a deeper inquiry into its ecology, the project is built on a foundation of research, persistence, and purpose. Recognizing a critical gap in scientific understanding, he established CCARP as a dedicated initiative to study and conserve the Asiatic caracal. He later pursued a Master’s in Wildlife Conservation Action at Bharti Vidyapeeth Institute of Environment Education and Research (CCARP), focusing on habitat suitability, and gained field experience through camera trapping programs with the Gujarat Forest Department.
In 2024, while working with The Grasslands Trust on wolf and grassland conservation, he met Shreyas Nakate, a field biologist and biodiversity specialist with expertise in wildlife behavior and drone-based monitoring, associated with projects under The Habitats Trust in collaboration with Max Planck University and the Government of Spain. United by a shared vision, they co-founded CCARP, bringing together scientific rigor and ground-level experience to uncover what has long remained unknown. Presently also working with the National Geographic Society, their work continues to push the boundaries of research and conservation, placing India’s lesser-known wildlife into sharper global focus.
Our Insights
Latest perspectives, news, and stories
Caracal Conservation And Research Project is a registered Section-8 Company, NGO.
Ahmedabad, Gujarat
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