Three weeks ago, an endangered sand cat named Rotem gave birth to three kittens at the Ramat Gan Safari Park in Israel. Mother and babies, of a breed once thought extinct, delighted visitors this week as they emerged from their den and played together in the open.
Rare Kittens
Rotem gave birth to four kittens in 2012 with her previous partner Sela, but he died last year. Workers at the zoo say that Rotem and her new Swedish-born partner, Kalahari, did not initially get on, and they were surprised to discover that the sand cat was pregnant.
Sand cats are a breed of wildcat native to the desert, and are small and fluffy even as adults. According the International Society for Endangered Cats, they were once found in the Sahara Desert, and hot, dry areas of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, but today exist mostly in captivity. The Times of Israel report that only 200 survive in European zoos.