CreatureData

Sand cat

Felis margarita Loche, 1858

LCLeast Concernmammals

The sand cat (Felis margarita), also called the sand dune cat, is a mammal of the family Felidae in the order Carnivora. It is a medium-sized, nocturnal and terrestrial carnivore, with an adult body mass of 2.5 kg and up to 2.75 kg.

Sand cat (Felis margarita)
Photo: Greg Hume · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the sand cat

Its lifespan is given as 13.7 years, up to 13.9 years, and the IUCN Red List classes it as Least Concern, not a threatened category.

Weight
2.53 kg – 2.75 kgsrc for Weight
Length
39 cm – 52 cmsrc for Length
Lifespan
13.7 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Carnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
vertebratessrc for Main food
Habitat
desertsrc for Habitat
Gestation
67 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
4.5src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
9 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
2src for Litters or clutches a year
Reproduction
Live birthsrc for Reproduction
Active
At night (nocturnal)src for Active
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the sand cat?

SAND CAT · LENGTH 52 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 52 cm, the recorded maximum length of the sand cat is about 31% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Photos of the sand cat

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Sand cat (Felis margarita)
LarsMueller · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Sand cat (Felis margarita)
belgianchocolate · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Sand cat (Felis margarita)
TimVickers · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Sand cat (Felis margarita)
Bobby McCabe · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Sand cat (Felis margarita)
Zoo Hluboka · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Sand cat (Felis margarita)
Dino246 at English Wikipedia · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Sand cat (Felis margarita)
Ltshears · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the sand cat live?

Not recorded

What is the sand cat?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The sand cat (Felis margarita) is a small wild cat that inhabits sandy and stony deserts far from water sources. With its sandy to light grey fur, it is well camouflaged in a desert environment. Its head-and-body length ranges from 39–52 cm (15–20 in) with a 23–31 cm (9.1–12.2 in) long tail. Its 5–7 cm (2.0–2.8 in) short ears are set low on the sides of the head, aiding detection of prey moving underground. The long hair covering the soles of its paws insulates its pads against the extreme temperatures found in deserts.

The first sand cat known to scientists was discovered in the Algerian Sahara and described in 1858. To date, it has been recorded in several disjunct locations in Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Niger, Chad, Egypt, the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East. In Central Asia, it was first recorded in the Karakum Desert in 1925. The large gap between these two regions of its global range was partially closed in 1948, when a sand cat skin was found in an oasis of the Rub' al Khali in Oman. It is discontinuously distributed in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East. In the early 1970s, sand cats were caught in southwestern Pakistan and exported to zoos worldwide. Due to its wide distribution and large population, it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

The sand cat usually rests in underground dens during the day and hunts at night. It moves 5.4 km (3.4 mi) on average at night in search of small rodents and birds. It also kills and consumes venomous snakes. In spring, the female gives birth to two to three kittens, which become sexually mature around the age of one year. The sand cat's ecological requirements are still poorly understood, as only a few in-depth studies targeting wild sand cat populations have been conducted.

From the Wikipedia article “Sand cat” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sand_cat&oldid=1380471112), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the sand cat endangered?

The sand cat is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the sand cat classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderCarnivora
  5. familyFelidae
  6. genusFelis
  7. SpeciesFelis margarita Loche, 1858
Other names and names in other languages (44)
  • Sand dune catEnglish
  • Sand dune catEnglish
  • SandkatAfrikaans
  • WoestynkatAfrikaans
  • قط الرمالArabic
  • Qit al rimalArabic
  • SåndkotzBavarian
  • Барханны котBelarusian
  • Пясъчна коткаBulgarian
  • Kazh an traezhBreton
  • kočka pouštníCzech
  • WüstenkatzeGerman
  • SandkatzeGerman
  • Αγριόγατα της άμμουGreek
  • gato del SaharaSpanish
  • gato de las arenasSpanish
  • Gato del desiertoSpanish
  • hietakissaFinnish
  • Chat des sablesFrench
  • Pustinjska mačka / Пустињска мачкаSerbian (Latin)
  • חתול חולותHebrew
  • Pustinjska mačkaCroatian
  • homoki macskaHungarian
  • margaritamacskaHungarian
  • Kucing pasirIndonesian
  • Gatto delle sabbieItalian
  • スナネコJapanese
  • Шағыл мысығыKazakh
  • 모래고양이Korean
  • MargaritaLithuanian
  • SandkattNorwegian Bokmål
  • WoestijnkatDutch
  • Kot arabskiPolish
  • kot pustynnyPolish
  • Gato-do-desertoPortuguese
  • Барханный котRussian
  • Барханная кошкаRussian
  • pshaya koshkaRussian
  • Mačka púšťováSlovak
  • แมวทรายThai
  • benekli kediTurkish
  • Барханний кітUkrainian
  • Кіт барханнийUkrainian
  • 沙漠貓Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the sand cat

Other species in the same genus Felis.

CompareSand cat vs European wildcatSand cat vs Jungle catSand cat vs Black-footed catSand cat vs Chinese mountain cat

Common questions

Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.

What kind of animal is the sand cat?

The sand cat is a mammal of the family Felidae, subfamily Felinae, in the order Carnivora.

How heavy is a sand cat?

An adult sand cat has a body mass of 2.5 kg, with values up to 2.75 kg reported.

What does the sand cat eat?

The sand cat is a carnivore.

Is the sand cat endangered?

No. The IUCN Red List classes the sand cat as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.

How long does a sand cat live?

The sand cat's lifespan is given as 13.7 years, with values up to 13.9 years reported.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

Embed a card for this animal on your own site

Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.

Preview the card

APA

CreatureData. (2026). Sand cat (Felis margarita). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/sand-cat

MLA

“Sand cat (Felis margarita).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/sand-cat.

BibTeX
@misc{sand_cat_2026,
  title = {Sand cat (Felis margarita)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/sand-cat},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}