The rare and elusive (and strikingly cute) Arabian Sand Cat has been photographed in the desert of Abu Dhabi for the first time since 2005! These cats, endangered in the Middle East, live primarily in the scorching heat of the desert and hunt rodents for food. Sightings are very rare, and because of this. very little is actually known about the sand cats and how they are doing. Researchers from Ead and Al Ain Zoo set up baited cameras to try to capture footage of these rare animals to get an idea of just how many of these desert-dwelling cats are still around.
Photo Credit: Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi
The researchers described their work in a paper recently published in the European Journal of Wildlife Research.
