Sand Cats Found in Libya

Sand cat (photo from Wikimedia Commons) 6 July 2026 There is an elusive desert wild cat that is so similar in size and shape to a domestic cat that it could be mistaken for one. The sand cat (Felis margarita) lives in disjoint areas in deserts from North Africa to the Middle East to Turkmenistan and is so well camouflaged that it is almost impossible to see in the wild. They are always in remote desert areas and possibly extinct in some of their range. Distribution of sand cat as of 2016 (map from Wikimedia Commons) Sand cats were not found in Libya, until Mohammed Almuntasir posted this video on YouTube in 2017. Sand Cat in Libya, 2017 video by Mohammed Almuntasir embedded from YouTube Almuntasir often received inquiries about the video but it led nowhere until Firas Hayder at Sol Plaatje University in South Africa proposed searching for and mapping sand cat locations using GPS, still shots and video. It was a dangerous effort for humans because of armed smugglers in the region.…