Canyon

CANYON Male Sand Cat

DOB 7/27/00

Arrived at Big Cat Rescue  10/23/00

Pat Quillen of S.O.S. Care sent five Sand Cats to Big Cat Rescue on October 23, 2000. They were born to Pebbles and Papoose who were the offspring of wild caught Sand Cats sent here during Desert Storm for their protection. Most of the known origin Sand Cats in the U.S. are from these imported Founders who produced well at S.O.S. Care. They have been sent here as genetic back up and will not be bred at Big Cat Rescue unless their offspring with cats unrelated to this group can be returned to the wild. We will not breed for life in cages.

Sand cats are small desert dwelling cats native to northern Africa and the Middle East. They are frequent victims of the illegal pet trade and during the Gulf War their livelyhood and habitats were greatly affected. In an effort to preserve the species, the Saudi government sent eight of these cats to S.O.S. Care, a California-based international cat-conservation organization. Canyon and four littermates, descendents of the original group, were sent to Big Cat Rescue as a genetic back-up in case of disaster at S.O.S. Care.

Canyon has a very tall Cat.a.tat that encloses a tree in the center. He loves to climb and spend time in his tree, so keepers placed a den barrel high up in it’s branches. Canyon can almost always be found sleeping in this secluded space. Canyon lives across the pathway from Cameron the lion, however, he does not seem intimidated by his large neighbor. What he lacks in size he makes up for with boldness. Canyon also loves feeding time and this super tiny cat is a real spitfire when food is involved. When he hears the feeding carts approaching his area he sparks to life and rushes into his feeding lockout to await his meal. Sand Cats have very sensitive digestive tracts and in the wild would eat prey like lizards and gerbils which have very small flexible bones. Since these little cats would not be able to digest the larger bones in the chicken, that all of the other cats at the sanctuary get, the closest and most economical food source are baby chicks. These arrive frozen from a wholesaler and are thawed before they are given to the Sand Cats. The Sand Cats are also fed a special blended ground diet that has organ meat and vitamins.