Canuck wrote: “I belong to a school of thought that states it’s acceptable to kill an animal for the benefit of several or many humans but not acceptable to kill an animal for the sake of, for instance, my own vanity . . .”

Well, I can assure you, the caracal was not killed for my benefit.
This species is routinely trapped as vermin, and the pelt that is coming to me came out of a trap.
Stock farmers and game farmers don’t go out looking for caracal, but they do all they can to discourage them from preying on their animals (livestock or wild buck).
Another common type of vermin here is the jackal.
Some years ago there was a major campaign against jackals, and hunters reported great success in exterminating them. The downside was that caracal became more rapacious than ever.
Scientists told us that a prime function of the jackal is to attack caracal litters and kill the kittens. If there are not enough jackals to do this, the outcome is stock loss.
The balance of nature is extremely delicate.
Regards,
Mike