Photo of Sand Cat

-- As its name implies the sand cat is commonly found in sandy desert areas in the arid countries of Northern Africa, Arabia and parts of Central Asia and Pakistan - sand cats indigenous to each of these areas are catorgorised as sub species, respectively, Felis margarita margarita North Africa , Felis margarita harrisoni Arabian Peninsula , Felis margarita thinobia west of the Caspian Sea and Felis margarita scheffeli Pakistan . Due to its fragmented distribution across the Saharan part of its range some experts sub-catogarise the North African species of the sand cat into further distinct sub-species - Felis margarita airensis Niger and Felis margarita meinertzhageni Sahara - however due to the difficulty in obtaining accurate population figures and accurate scientific data of cats in open desert areas, exact classification is uncertain.