Endangered Cat Animals

Sand Cats

• Named because of their sandy brown coats, these desert-dwelling cats have adapted well to their habitat. Thick coats protect them from the hot days and cold nights of the desert, while hair-covered soles allow easy and quiet movement over the often hot sand. Sand cats are known to prey on an assortment of large insects, small mammals, birds and reptiles, and even occasionally on desert snakes. These small, solitary cats of the wild usually hunt and travel at night, while their daylight hours are spent lying on their backs to get rid of heat.

Borneo Bay Cat

• The Borneo Bay cat is a small cat, similar in size to a big house cat. It sports a chestnut red coat with pale black dots or markings. Unique only to the Bornean landscape, little more is known about this mysterious feline, as documented studies in the wild or in captivity are rare. The Borneo Bay cat appears to have a forest habitat, and today, these forests suffer from rapid decline due to logging and oil palm plantations.

Tigers

• Tigers of all types provide one of the most popular attractions at zoos. Sadly, today their numbers are rapidly declining due to loss of forests and grasslands, as well as due to illegal poaching. Primarily nocturnal, they usually hunt at night, preying on large mammals like deer, antelopes and even pigs. As of 2011, tigers are spread out through different locations on the Asian continent; their most populous location is in India.

Iberian Lynx

• Presently the most endangered cat in the world, the Spanish or Iberian Lynx favors native woodlands and shrubby areas as its habitat. Their yellowish to brownish fur is marked with dark spots and the lengthy ear tufts and the facial ruff give them the characteristic appearance of the lynx species. They prey around grasslands and their diet consists of rabbits and other small mammals.