Endangered Sand Cat Information

Humans, feral & domestic dogs, lions, jackals, wild dogs, venomous snakes and birds of prey hunt the sand cat.

Endangered sand cat information. Sand cat is the only species of cat that inhabits deserts exclusively. Sand cats are listed as “near threatened” on the international union for conservation of nature (iucn) red list and as endangered in the united arab emirates, where the al ain zoo is a hotspot. Even though it has blunt claws, this miniature cat digs well to search for its prey which consists of gerbils and similar rodents with the infrequent lizard or else snake.

Unfortunately, exotic cats are illegal in most states. The cats dig burrows or extend other animals' burrows where they live to escape the harsh desert conditions. Sand cats will also cover large kills with sand and return later to feed.

Photo by jim sanderson/wikimedia commons. They rarely drink water and obtain sufficient moisture from their prey. When this vegetation is destroyed, the sand cats can starve.

This is causing their populations to decrease at an alarming rate. Number of sand cats decreased drastically in the past couple of decades due to habitat loss, poaching. It is not clear whether the gaps in known range are due to a lack of records or truly reflect species absence (hemmer et al.

They are also good snake hunters. Locally, sand cats may be threatened by the pet trade. Sand cats diet includes reptiles and arthropods.

Habitat degradation is the major threat to the sand cat. The sand cat (felis margarita), also known as the sand dune cat, is a small wild cat living in sandy and stony deserts far from water sources. The pallas's cat (otocolobus manul), also called manul, is a small wild cat native to the montane grasslands and shrublands in central asia.it is negatively affected by habitat degradation, prey base decline and hunting.it has been classified as least concern on the iucn red list since 2020.