Utah’s Hogle Zoo welcomes sand cat kitten
Cleo gives birth to a healthy kitten on June 2
Whisper Warning: New Kitten Resting in the Small Animal Building
Utah’s Hogle Zoo is excited to announce the birth of a sand cat kitten to first-time parents Cleo and Asim on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. The kitten remains unnamed while our care team waits to determine whether it is male or female.
During your next visit, you may see Cleo and the kitten in the Small Animal Building. Newborn kittens and their moms have incredibly sensitive ears, so please channel your inner desert cat and speak in a quiet whisper when you visit.
Cleo came to Hogle Zoo in May 2025 following a breeding recommendation through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Sand Cat Species Survival Plan (SSP), which helps maintain healthy, genetically diverse populations of animals in accredited zoos while supporting long-term conservation efforts.
About sand cats
Native to some of the harshest environments on Earth, sand cats are perfectly adapted to life in dry, arid regions. They inhabit three distinct areas of the world: Africa’s Sahara Desert (including Algeria, Niger, and Morocco), the Arabian Peninsula, and parts of Central Asia (including Turkmenistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan).
These small but resilient cats are built for extremes. In their natural habitat, daytime surface temperatures can soar to 124°F (51°C) and drop to near freezing at night. Sand cats avoid these extremes by retreating to burrows during the hottest parts of the day and emerging at night to hunt.
Despite their size, sand cats are fearless hunters. Their diet includes small rodents, birds, reptiles, and even venomous snakes like vipers. Their speed, agility, and impressive hunting instincts make them one of the desert’s most formidable predators.
Sand cat conservation
Although classified as Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), sand cat populations face growing threats, including habitat degradation, climate change, and human activity.
As skilled hunters, sand cats prey on small mammals, birds, reptiles, and venomous snakes, but declines in prey populations further threaten their survival. Protecting these elusive desert dwellers depends on preserving their harsh but delicate habitats and reducing human-wildlife conflict across their range.