How a YouTube video accidentally proved the existence of Libya’s ‘desert ghosts’
Yet despite some scattered reports dating back to the mid-20th century, the sand cat (Felis margarita) had never been officially verified as native to Libya, Firas Hayder, an expert on North African small carnivores, told CNN; instead, it was primarily associated with Sahara regions across other North African countries like Morocco, as well as Southwest and Central Asia.
Almost a decade later, it was confirmed as the first documented evidence that the North African country was home to the sand cat, a wild felid that is as elusive as it is adorable.“If you want to check if a habitat is in good (condition), you have to study the small carnivores,” said Hayder, who theorizes that climate change could have already contributed to a drop in sand cat populations.
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