Elusive Sand Kittens Caught On Video In The Wild For The First Time Ever

Published October 13, 2017
Updated February 5, 2019

After years of searching, researchers have finally given the world a look at these adorable cats.

After years of research, the elusive “sand kittens” have been captured on camera for the first time ever.

Sand cats, a species of feline that lives exclusively in the deserts of North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia, are notoriously difficult to find, and their kittens are even rarer. These stealthy cats travel only under the cover of night, and their camouflaged, sand-colored fur makes them even more difficult to spot. Furthermore, their furry paws do not leave prints in the sand and they clean up after themselves to avoid being tracked by predators.

However, a big cat organization called Panthera spotted these seldom-seen kittens while they were driving back to camp in the Moroccan Sahara earlier this year. They had been in the area to document sand cats, but never imagined that they would discover this cache of sand kittens.

“Finding these kittens was astonishing,” said Grégory Breton, managing director of Panthera France. “We believe this was the first time researchers ever documented wild sand cat kittens in their African range.”

See some of the images from this historic event below:

Sand Cat Face Eyes

Grégory Breton/Sand Cat Sahara Team

Sand Cat Eyes

Grégory Breton/Sand Cat Sahara Team

Sand Cats Grass

Grégory Breton/Sand Cat Sahara Team

Sand Cat Big Eyes

Grégory Breton/Sand Cat Sahara Team


Next, check out these amazing photos of a wild lioness nursing an orphaned baby leopard. Then, see this extremely rare white giraffe spotted on video.

author
Gabe Paoletti
author
Gabe Paoletti is a New York City-based writer and a former Editorial Intern at All That's Interesting. He holds a Bachelor's in English from Fordham University.
editor
John Kuroski
editor
John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of interest include modern history and true crime.