It is properly confined to the coat of skin without sleeves and used to be worn by the Khoikhoi and Bushmen / San peoples of South Africa.
The word is also loosely applied to the cloaks of leopard-skin worn by the chiefs and principal men of several southern African tribes.
Kaross is probably either a genuine Khoikhoi word, or else an adaptation of the Dutch kuras (Portuguese: couraça), a cuirass.
"[1] These days the kaross is a common tourist item, being made of various animal hides including cowhide.
These "karosses" often have panels of different types of animal fur sewn into them in order to make a decorative pattern.