Sand Cat: The King of the Desert

the Arabian desert one of the harshest ecosystems on the planet summer days see scorching temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius and during winter nights the temperatures plunge well past negative 25 the animals that call these dooms Rocks and canyons home specialize in the extreme one of these desert residents is a small one that you may have never heard of the sand cat they may look like house cats but these beige beauties are the only cat to live predominantly in the desert and they're built to handle its extremes on especially hot days the sand can reach temperatures of 80 degrees Celsius hot enough to burn a cat's feet sand cats however have long fur that covers their pads protecting them from the hot Arabian sand this comes with a secondary benefit it allows them to leave almost no footprints making it near impossible for predators to track them but in the desert heat is only half of the equation with little water vapor in the air to trap warmth at night temperatures plunge into the freezing fortunately sand cats have a thick coat that insulates their body from the cold keeping them warm at night and cool during the day spotting a sand cat is difficult they live in low densities they're extremely well camouflaged and when they move they stay low to the ground even when they run they'll keep their bellies as close to the ground as possible while they may look silly they can still top 40 kilometers an hour [Music] during the day they will try to avoid the intense Sun by napping in the shade or in their burrows at night is when they're most active their habitat is almost barren vegetation water and prey are rare to find a meal sand cats travel vast distances covering up to eight kilometers a night their massive habitat is sparsely populated by creatures doing their best to stay undercover to find something to eat in this trying to rain sand cats have two big advantages their ears their ears are giant and contain an ear canal that's roughly twice as wide as a domestic cats these cats can pick up very low frequencies a helpful skill in the open desert where low sounds travel the farthest these adorably oversized ears allow them to hear praise scuttling in the sand up to half a kilometre away with meals few and far between these cats aren't picky eaters they'll eat whatever they can get their paws on in this case a cricket the desert is a dry and unforgiving place to live the sand cats will have to take what she can get water is scarce but sand cats don't need it they have adapted to survive without having to drink water instead they get all the moisture they need from their prey though this sand cat has her ears on something a bit more substantial than a cricket a mouse she picks up on the sound of it scurrying over the ridge she has to move quickly and quietly or she'll lose it in the rocks she lowers her body to the ground ready to pounce [Music] lucky for her the mouse didn't hear her coming she swallows it whole and runs off into the night while their big ears help make them deadly predators they have another use listening for other sand cats these felines live at very low densities and between two potential mates may be dozens of kilometres of harsh terrain they'll call out making a sound resembling a bark if they're lucky enough to find a partner and succeed in mating mothers will usually have a litter of three kittens the kittens grow fast reaching three-quarters of their adult size in just six months in a year they'll be independent like all small cats sand cats are incredibly elusive and we know very little about them their populations are spread out in remote areas with harsh environments and so studying them is almost impossible fortunately for the same reasons that they are hard to study they're also protected from poaching and human encroachment in fact until 2015 we knew almost nothing about these desert-dwelling felines and we still have so much to learn but thanks to a handful of dedicated researchers working with limited resources and new technologies like VHF collars and trap cams we're starting to shed light on one of the world's most unknown species the elusive sand cat [Music] [Music]

Channel: Animalogic

Views: 5,397,881

Rating: 4.9311113 out of 5

Keywords: animals, animal, logic, education, show, animalogic, crazy, ugly, weird, gross, beautiful, interesting, facts, animalsfacts, about, information, info, school, research, learn, learning, fun, easy, smart, Sand cat, cat, feline, desert, sand, dunes, live in desert, ears, fur, house cat, domestic cat, breed, small cats unknown, night, day, hot, cold, unknown

Id: y8kTYCex8RU

Length: 7min 5sec (425 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 06 2020