IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Sliwa, A.; Azizi, S.; Eddine, M.Z.; Alifal, E.; Breton, G. | |
| Home ranges of African sand cats (_Felis margarita margarita_) | |
| 2023 Journal of Arid Environments (210): 104909 | |
Data on African sand cats _Felis margarita margarita_ was collected in the southern provinces of Morocco between December 2015 and December 2019. Within these four years, a total of 47 sand cats were observed, 41 were captured and 22 were fitted with VHF radio-collars and tracked over various time spans. Home-range size estimations were calculated for 10 adult sand cats with more than 30 independent fixes. Home-range mean sizes averaged 274.6 ñ 394.8 km2 (95% Minimum Convex Polygon ñ SD) and 291.9 ñ 417 km2 (95% Kernel Density Estimation ñ SD) for females (N = 3; 149 locations) to 319.3 ñ 451.8 km2 (95% MCP) and 304.5 ñ 375.7 km2 (95% KDE) for males (N = 7; 311 locations). Given the number of sand cats observed in the study area and the external good conditions of all 41 captured cats, who showed no wounds, very few scars and no tooth breakage, we hypothesise that the sand cats are tolerant of each other and likely non-territorial. Our understanding of their ecology remains however limited and their social organization and mating pattern almost unknown. Important future research should focus on diet, overlying social organization and relatedness of sand cats, in relation with environmental conditions and anthropogenic factors. |
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