Sand cat
By: Jarod
Sand cats are the smallest cat in the desert. In this endangered species paper you will learn about the habitat, prey, predators, adaptations, and threats of the sand cat.
Sand cats live in many places. This is because sand cats like and live in sandy and stony deserts. in Pakistan and Iran, and other deserts in Northern Africa. Sand cats eat many things including reptiles like poisonous snakes and lizards. They also eat small birds and some arthropods which are insects and spiders, but gerbils makes up most of their diet. The adaptations of a sand cat are very interesting. Sand cats have unique padding on the base of their paws that allows them to travel without leaving tracks. The fur color of a sand cat is a brown, orange, and yellowish color with a little bit of red and a bit of black. These colors match the colors of the desert sand and rocks causing the sand cat to be in a way invisible or camouflaged. Their ears are are on the sides their heads. The reason why the ears are so low is because it would be hard to camouflage even with the ability to use it’s fur color to camouflage. But even so they are still able to hear extremely well. It is a lot colder at night in the desert than during the day. That’s why sand cats are nocturnal. The Felis Margarita species acquires all of the water that they need from their prey when they eat it. They have many predators including a big cat. And that big cat is the caracal. A caracal is a big cat that can jump extremely high! Wild dogs such as the african wild dog are also a predator. Birds of prey are also a predator of sand cats but they usually only go for sand kittens because they fear that the adult sand cats will catch them while kittens do not know how to defend themselves. There are some snakes that are dangerous for sand cats. But the greatest threat to sand cats are humans! One of the threats of sand cats is human settlement. Another is habitat degradation. And the last two are crops and traps made by humans. Another threat or dangers is droughts or lack of water. Another is the disappearance of natural vegetation because sand cats are omnivores. Finally disease is another threat. Climate change can increase these threats. All of these reasons lead to an increase sand cat endangerment. These amazing creatures make this world a much better place. They are an important part of the desert ecosystem. They help keep populations down as predators and are a food source for as prey. They are a one of a kind special species that has amazing abilities. These are reasons why we should save and protect the Felis Margarita species from endangerment threats. |
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