These adorably oversized ears allow them to hear praise,

scuttling in the sand up to half a kilometer away

with meals.

Few and far between these cats aren't picky eaters,

they'll eat whatever they can get their paws on.

In this case,

a cricket,

the desert is a dry and unforgiving place to live.

The sand cats will have to take what she can get.

Water is scarce but sand cats don't need it.

They have adapted to survive without having to drink water.

Instead they get all the moisture they need from their prey.

Though.

This sand catt has her ears on something a bit more substantial than a cricket.

A mouse she picks up on the sound of it

scurrying over the ridge.

She has to move quickly and quietly or she'll lose it in the rocks.

She lowers her body to the ground ready to pounce

lucky for her.

The mouse didn't hear her coming.

She swallows it whole and runs off into the night

while their big ears help make them deadly predators.

They have another use listening for other sand cats.

These felines live at very low densities and between two potential mates may

be dozens of kilometers of harsh terrain.

They'll call out making a sound resembling a bark.

If they're lucky enough to find a partner and succeed in mating,

mothers will usually have a litter of three kittens.

The kittens grow fast reaching three quarters of their adult size in just six

months.
In a year,

they'll be independent.

Like all small cats,

sand cats are incredibly elusive and we know very little about

them.

Their populations are spread out in remote areas with harsh environments

and so studying them is almost impossible.

Fortunately for the same reasons that they are hard to study.

They're also protected from poaching and human encroachment.

In fact,

until 2015,

we knew almost nothing about these desert dwelling felines

and we still have so much to learn.

But thanks to a handful of dedicated researchers working with limited resources

and new technologies like V H F collar and trap cams,

we are starting to shed light on one of the world's most unknown species.

The elusive sand cat.