Sand cats: Incredible desert dwellers, but no pets!
Sand cats: Incredible desert dwellers, but no pets!
Karakum, Turkmenistan - sand cats, also known as desert cats, are fascinating animals that live in extreme desert areas. This kind of scientifically referred to as Felis Margarita is characterized by its adaptability to the rough living conditions in sand and stone deserts. According to t-online.de, these cats prefer warmth, dryness and loneliness, which makes them unsident. Even zoos often face challenges when it comes to keeping these animals.
In their natural habitat, sand cats inhabit areas with greatly varying temperatures and require habitat conditions that are adapted to their desert -like environment. It was found that many sand cats in captivity suffer from cat cold, which makes their care difficult. These cats are primarily nocturnal and have high hunting capabilities, they hunt small animals such as insects, mice and reptiles and use their pronounced senses to successfully prey in the dark.
lifestyle and distribution
sand cats live in areas that are between 15 and 20 square kilometers tall, and their population extends over four main regions, including the Sahara and Arabia. The IUCN estimates the number of adult sand cats worldwide at around 50,000, they are classified as "slightly endangered". The common subspecies are Felis Margarita Margarita , Felis Margarita Harrisoni , Felis Margarita Scheffeli and Felis Margarita Thinobia de-academic.com .
Your ability to survive in such extreme conditions is impressive. During the day, the temperatures in the Karakum desert in Turkmenistan can reach up to 40 degrees Celsius, while they drop to -25 degrees in winter. In the hot sand surface it can even be up to 80 degrees. The sand cats survive these temperature fluctuations through their thick fur and special adjustments such as dense hair on the paws that enables them to run on hot sand t-online.de
ecological role and threats
The sand cats are also part of a complex ecological system that is in the deserts that are often considered hostile to life. In fact, deserts are habitats that house many adapted species, including lizards, snakes and other mammals. This shows that deserts are much more than just desolate areas-they are home to a variety of ways of life planet-wissen.de .
The natural enemies of the sand cats include jackals, stone eagles, caracals and even overgrown dogs. In addition, people are a danger: Many sand cats are pursued because of their fur or for illegal pet trade. Contrary to the assumption that their beauty would be suitable as pets, they have difficulty finding their way around human living space. In Muslim culture, on the other hand, sand cats enjoy high reputation, since they are the companion of the Prophet Mohammed t-online.de
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| Ort | Karakum, Turkmenistan |
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