Sand Cats Zoo Habitat
Fearless hunters they can prey on venomous snakes.
Sand cats zoo habitat. Covered with hair its footpads are insulated from the hot sand. It digs dens in deep sand beneath desert bushes. Highlights Sand cats have an exceptionally large middle ear cavity making them extremely sensitive to the small scratching sounds of burrowing rodents as well as large ears that can swivel and funnel sounds to the inner ear.
Sand cats are kept in many zoos and collections mainly in the USA Europe and the Middle East. It feeds on small rodents snakes and lizards as it hunts its preys at night when its sight is most sharp especially in the darkness. The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers sand cats to be near threatened.
The sand cat inhabits arid stony and sandy deserts especially among sparse vegetation of Africa and south-west Asia. To transition zoo-raised animals back to the wild. The cats large ears help to provide it with excellent hearing.
During extreme heat the sand cat cools off in a burrow. An Arabian Sand Cat One Plan Conservation Workshop was organised by Al Ain Zoo on 13-14th November 2013. Sand cats live exclusively in desert regions.
The Arabian Sand Cat is able to live without drinking water and sustains itself on the water it gets. Sand cats live in three distinct regions of the world. With big ears and large faces sand cats appear top-heavy with heads too big for their small bodies.
Habitat degradation is the major threat to the sand cat. The sand cat is equipped for desert life. At the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park most of our small cats are offered commercial cat kibble and a specially formulated carnivore diet as well as thawed mice and bones.