Chat des sables

There are relatively few records of Sand Cat and the species is often reported as rare (Sliwa 2013). It was recently recorded in isolated areas from where historical records do not exist, such as deserts in Syria, western Saudi Arabia, western Iraq and central Chad (Serra et al. 2007, Strauss et al. 2007, Mohammad et al. 2013, M. K. Mohammad, pers. obs. February 2016, Rabeil et al. 2016). However, recent records are lacking from several range countries such as from Jordan, Palestine, Qatar and Yemen (Banfield et al. 2014), where specific surveys have either not been conducted, or the species has not been detected due to its elusive habits or the species is absent and thus the conservation status of the Sand Cat is unknown there. In Israel, the species has not been recorded in the country on post-2000 surveys and is now considered locally extinct (Noam Leader, Israel Nature and Parks Authority, in litt. 2014).

The only available density estimates come from a telemetry study in southern Israel, where 11 Sand Cats were caught in the study area of 15 x 25 km (375 km²), resulting in an estimated density of 2.9/100 km² (M. Abbadi, in Sliwa 2013). Based on this density and the estimated AOO (based on only the extant species range), the total population is conservatively estimated at 27,264 mature individuals. In the Saja / Umm Ar-Rimth Protected Area, Saudi Arabia, the annual home ranges (95% MCP) of 7 Sand Cats were 19.6 – 50.7 km² (Sher Shah and Shobrak 2016 in prep). In the same area Sand Cats appear to occur at far lower densities than Rüppell's Fox Vulpes rueppellii (Strauss et al. 2007 and pers. comm. 2008). Sher Shah recorded 692 Rüppells Foxes in comparison to 62 Sand Cat captured in a total of 4509 trap nights between 2001-2009 (Sher Shah et al. 2016 in prep). Particularly in the years 2006-07 there was heightened mortality in the 5 captured and radio-collared Sand Cats, three (60%) of them dying within a few months and the remaining two recorded missing after making large movements away from their initial home ranges. This 100 % mortality could have been due to the drought conditions the protected areas experienced (Sher Shah and Shobrak 2016 in prep, Sher Shah et al. 2016 in prep). This is also reflected by live-trapping in Saja / Umm Ar-Rimth Protected Area, Saudi Arabia where six Sand Cats were caught in a trap grid in 2002 reaching a potential density of 16.66 /100 km² (Sher Shah and Shobrak 2016 in prep, Sher Shah et al. 2016 in prep). Subsequent trapping sessions in 2005 with seven Sand Cats caught gave such trapping derived densities at 14.27 / 100 km². The capture rate decreased to 2.83 / 100 km² in 2006 with only one caught. In the years 2007 and 2009 no Sand Cats were caught in the same trapping grid (Sher Shah and Shobrak 2016 in prep, Sher Shah et al. 2016 in prep), documenting a possible local decline. Whether such calculations are valid estimators of densities is open to debate. A certain decline in capture rate could also have been due to trap shyness. In Mahazat As-Sayd Reserve no Sand Cat was seen between 2008 and 2009 (P. Cunningham, pers. comm. 2016). In low-quality habitat, such as shifting sand dunes, densities may be very low (Sliwa 2013). Numbers may fluctuate in response to environmental conditions leading to prey declines and recoveries (Sunquist and Sunquist 2002). The Sand Cat population on the Arabian Peninsula is considered to be declining at an unknown rate (Mallon and Budd 2011, Banfield et al. 2014), although this is difficult to prove, while in certain areas there may be more Sand Cats than previously expected (T. Wacher, pers. comm. 2016). There are no confirmed records from Yemen.

In the past 10 years (2006-2016) there seem to be repeated and regular reports of Sand Cats from Western Sahara, South Algeria, Niger, Chad, southwestern Saudi Arabia and the border area of southeaster Saudi Arabia with Oman and the United Arab Emirates, and Iran, probably strongholds for the species. This contrasts with the status in Central Asia and Pakistan, which is largely unknown, with only very few recent records available (Burnside et al. 2014). The same applies to the Karakum desert in Turkmenistan, with no records within the past 25 years, most of the records being far older (cited in Heptner and Sludskii 1972) and thus at least 5 generations of Sand Cats ago.