Wild Sand Kittens Caught On Camera For The First Time Are Almost Too Cute To Be Real
While these may look like ordinary kittens, these little furballs are actually wild sand cat kittens – and this is the first time that they have ever been filmed in their natural habitat.
The kittens, aged between six to eight weeks old, were spotted by a big cat organisation called Panthera, who spent around an hour taking images of the kittens before radio-collaring an adult female believed to be their mother. Sand cat sightings are extremely hard to track because they leave behind little to no markings of their activity and they travel primarily at night. Their fur also provides perfect camouflage against their surroundings. The team, headed by biologists Grégory Breton and Dr Alexander Sliwa, noticed the kittens as they drove back to camp in the Moroccan Sahara in April this year. Spotting three pairs of eyes glowing in the darkness, the researchers couldn’t believe their luck when they realised what they’d found.
Grégory Breton, the managing director of the French branch of Panthera, says that their team has been researching sand cats in Africa since 2013 – and this most recent breakthrough was a huge milestone. “Finding these kittens was astonishing,” said Breton “We believe this was the first time researchers ever documented wild sand cat kittens in their African range.”
Sand cats are the only species of cat that lives exclusively in the desert. They can be found in North Africa, The Middle East, and Central Asia, but as the research team discovered, actually locating them is incredibly difficult due to their extraordinary ability to evade detection. Their sand-colored coats makes them hard to spot, and their furry paws mean they don’t leave any footprints in the sand. They only travel under cover of darkness and they always clear up after themselves, so the fact that the team were able to capture the amazing footage below is nothing short of remarkable. Scroll down to see for yourself. And no, before you ask, you cannot keep them as pets.
More info: Panthera
Video credit: Grégory Breton
Image credits: Grégory Breton
Image credits: Grégory Breton
Image credits: Grégory Breton
Image credits: Grégory Breton
Image credits: Grégory Breton
Image credits: Grégory Breton
Image credits: Grégory Breton
Story inspiration: BoredPanda