55
solitary, but male, female and kitten groups have been reported.
Jungle Cats are nocturnal and diurnal hunters of rodents, and also take
hares, birds, reptiles and fish. Young deer and Wild Pigs are also killed.
Unusually for cats, Jungle Cats are reported to swim well and will
dive to catch fish. Three to five kittens are born after about a 66-day
gestation, with birth weights of up to 55 g each.
Distribution and Status In North Africa the Jungle Cat is only found
in the Nile Delta and on the floodplains of the river within Egypt.
Absent from the Arabian Peninsula, it occurs in Israel and Palestine,
Lebanon, northern Syria, patchily in Turkey, along the Euphrates
and Tigris Rivers in Iraq and in many areas where suitable habitat is
present in Iran, such as the Caspian forests.
Conservation Areas Golardi Sulun, Karatepe-Aslantas (Turkey); Anzali
Mordab WR, Amirkelayeh Lake WR, Miankaleh Peninsula WR, Karkheh
River Marshes WR, Dez River Marshes WR, Dasht-e Arjan PA, Lake
Bakhtegan WR (Iran).
SAND CAT Felis margarita
Identification This is the smallest cat in the region, with a somewhat
broadened face and large, rounded ears. The fur is thick, soft and more
or less uniformly pale sandy-buff, with indistinct darker banding on
the body and legs. The face is usually paler than the rest of the body,
and there are dark spots on the backs of the ears. The underparts
are off-white in colour. Long hair grows between the toe pads, an
adaptation to the substrate on which the cat lives.
Size Shoulder height 30 cm.
Weight 1 .5–3.5 kg.