Carnivores: Aardwolf African Wild Cat African Wild Dog Banded Mongoose Bat Eared Fox Black-backed Jackal Brown Hyena Cape Clawless Otter Cape Fox Caracal Cheetah Civet Dhole Large Spotted Genet Golden Jackal Honey badger Leopard African Lion Asiatic Lion Sand Cat Serval Side Striped Jackal Snow Leopard Spotted Hyena Striped Hyena Suricate (Meercat) Tiger White Tailed Mongoose Yellow Mongoose
The Sand Cat is a small sandy coloured cat with thick soft fur. The underside is covered in white fur, the back is often darker than the rest of the body, and the face is slightly paler than the body. The cats colouration acts as excellent camouflage in its natural desert habitat. The Sand Cat is around 65-80cm in length (including the tail) and it stands around 30cm high at the shoulder. Sand Cats typically weigh between 2 and 4 Kg.
The Sand Cat is mainly nocturnal (when the temperatures in the deserts are lower) as well as being active around dawn and dusk. Sand Cats live in burrows excavated under shrubs where they spend most of the daytime.
The Sand Cat preys mainly on rodents, but also kills and eats hares, ground squirrels, birds and reptiles.
The Sand Cat has a gestation period of around 62 days and gives birth to between 2 and 4 kittens in a litter. They can have up to two litters per year. The young are born blind and helpless and only open their eyes at around two weeks old. The kittens are tiny when born, weighing only around 40 grams.
The Sand Cat is only found in sandy deserts.
In Africa the Sand Cat is only found in the Sahara. There are other populations in Asia including Afghanistan and Pakistan.
© Predator Conservation Trust.
