This isn’t quite accurate. They have been tamed, for millennia, and used as hunting animals. Doesn’t mean the people doing it now are justified or competent at it. But they’re not untameable.
This is kind of the crux of it. Wealthy moguls (or literal wealthy Mughals) were generally not looking for lap companions. Rather, these were usually hunting animals housed mostly in kennel-type situations rather than someone’s family room. The modern conception of wild-cat-as-household-pet is an entirely different paradigm.
Cheetahs tame surprisingly easily as wild cats go. They should have been easy candidates for domestication as a better sight hound. Yet for all the centuries or even millennia they were kept as hunting animals, no one was even able to figure out how to get them to successfully breed in captivity until the latter half of the 20th century.
There’s “hunting companion” which is a very, very different situation than “pet to sit in your lap”.
Falconry is all about convincing a wild animal to hunt with you rather than running/flying away even when there is no obstacle to the animal doing so. But that’s all about serving and accommodating the needs of the predator you wishing a business relationship with.
As noted - this has also been done with wild cats like cheetahs and yes, caracals for hunting purposes. Again, that would be a situation where it’s more a business relationship than a social companion relationship.
That doesn’t mean a hawk or a caracal is suited to being a companion type of pet animal.
Bump because I saw someone post of video where a person had a pet serval and was blasting it in the face with a leafblower because it was “funny”. Looking at that cat’s expression, it’s obvious that the owner will not be unscathed too much longer.
And well deserved if the cat gives him what he’s asking for.
Well, dogs are way, way…way more dangerous to humans than domestic cats are.
No worries, Caracals are there to bring up the feline average.
You rang?
The one on the left is our Bengal, the one on the right is our late gen (5th or 6th) Savanah. For the record, the Bengal is a purebred, but we paid to adopt him when his prior owner moved from Colorado to California and had to downsize. The Savanah was a rehome we got for free from our lizard/snake vet and we became the third owner.
The Savanah joined us because she is a bit of a bully. Her prior owner (don’t know about the first) had bought her as a companion for an older, settled cat. Which… well, did not work out.
At our house, she had no competition, and was acted pretty much like any other cat. Considering her late generation, she’s almost all housecat after all. Looong legs, big ears, and her size (14.5lbs, only about .5-1lb of it chub) are the real tells.
We got the Bengal because she, like a lot of very, very smart cats, got bored easily. And we picked a breed that could compete in size (mostly, he’s pretty small for a Bengal at just shy of 12lbs, though no fat), energy, and attitude, sorry, cat-itude.
He’s also very housecat-y, although I’d say more aggressive than most when it comes to petting-induced aggression. Otherwise, mostly love for his human (Mrs. Lines) and acceptance of me as a key wielder of the whisk-broom of brushing joy.
Despite my good experiences, I would overall agree: they’re higher energy than the average housecat, bigger, and probably more aggressive. Well within the “normal” size of the bell curve for housecats, but absolutely on the high side of normal.
And if purchased from a reputable breeder, yes, they are darn expensive! So if you have the time, energy, and patience, get one being rehomed from someone who didn’t!
But… and back to the OP, I’d never get a true wildcat, there’s just too much risk involved, and the emotional damage if something goes wrong is a risk as well. A hybrid is a manageable risk, especially if you do your research and get late generations - a wildcat, especially larger varieties, is almost certainly not.
Chris Rock described it best:
You ever hear about somebody who had a pet tiger that turned around and ate him?
That’s not a tiger gone crazy…that’s a tiger gone tiger!