close up photo of a brown caracal. It is not legal to own a pet caracal in alberta, canada unless you have special permits like a zoo.

You can usually check the legality of certain animals as pets by seeing if they are on the Alberta Controlled Species list.

If they are not on the list, and not under any other regulation like livestock or Canadian Migratory Birds Act, then chances are, you can own it (also check with local rules and bylaws at the municipal level).

So with all that out of the way, what do we know about the legality of owning Caracals?

Can you own a pet Caracal in Alberta?

Legality of Owning a Pet Caracal

You can not legally have a pet Caracal in Alberta, Canada. These are listed as a controlled animal in Alberta.

They are listed under the “All Cat-Like” Section of the document.

If it’s on the following list, you can’t legally own one without permits and special permissions.

The entire Cat-Like Section has the following listed:

ALL CAT-LIKE (Family Felidae)

  • Wildcat, Jungle, Black-footed, Sand, Chinese Desert Cats (Genus Felis except Felis catus)
  • Andean Mountain, Ocelot, Margay, Oncilla, Colocolo, Kodkod, Geoffroy’s Cats (Genus Leopardus)
  • Serval (Leptailurus serval)
  • Manul (Pallas’ Cat) (Octocolobus manul)
  • Rusty-spotted, Fishing, Flat-headed and Leopard Cats (Genus Prionailurus)
  • Bay and Asian Golden Cats (Genus catopuma)
  • African Golden Cat (Profelis aurata)
  • Lynxes (Genus Lynx)
  • Caracal (Caracal caracal)
  • Marbled Cat (Pardofelis marmota)
  • Clouded Leopards (Genus Neofelis)
  • Big Cats (Leopard, Tiger, Jaguar, Lion, Snow Leopard) (Genus Panthera)
  • Jaguarundis (Genus Puma)
  • Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)

Here is a screenshot of the relevant Cat-Like section of the Alberta Controlled Animal List. You can not own any cats on this list.

  • Wildcat, Jungle, Black-footed, Sand, Chinese Desert Cats (Genus Felis except Felis catus)
  • Andean Mountain, Ocelot, Margay, Oncilla, Colocolo, Kodkod, Geoffroy’s Cats (Genus Leopardus)
  • Serval (Leptailurus serval)
  • Manul (Pallas’ Cat) (Octocolobus manul)
  • Rusty-spotted, Fishing, Flat-headed and Leopard Cats (Genus Prionailurus)
  • Bay and Asian Golden Cats (Genus catopuma)
  • African Golden Cat (Profelis aurata)
  • Lynxes (Genus Lynx)
  • Caracal (Caracal caracal)
  • Marbled Cat (Pardofelis marmota)
  • Clouded Leopards (Genus Neofelis)
  • Big Cats (Leopard, Tiger, Jaguar, Lion, Snow Leopard) (Genus Panthera)
  • Jaguarundis (Genus Puma)
  • Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)

Source: See the entire list of animals here

In Summary

  • You can not legally own a pet Caracal in Alberta, Canada
  • They are currently listed as a controlled animal
  • There is a long list of other cat-like species that are also banned from owning in Alberta

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