Meet Nela: A Beautiful Sand Cat at the Ramat Gan Safari

A particularly new and photogenic resident has arrived at the Ramat Gan Safari: Meet Nela, a beautiful sand cat, a year and a half old, who made the long journey from the Desertarium in Be'er Sheva straight to the center of the country, to the Safari in Ramat Gan!

The sand cat is a small wild cat, weighing around 2 kg, a champion at coping with the extreme living conditions of the desert. Until the mid-1990s, it even lived in Israel, in the Arava region. Nela was born at the Desertarium to her parents Sand and Sandy, and there she was named Sol. Upon her arrival at the Ramat Gan Safari, she received her new name, Nela, after Nala, the beloved of Simba from the movie "The Lion King."

The dedicated caretakers personally accompanied her to her new home: a pre-prepared night house with comfortable bedding, padding, and special heating, to allow her a calm adjustment to the new smells and sounds. Nela has already started feeling at home, and the caretakers have opened access from the room to the yard and introduced her to Simba, our male sand cat. Meanwhile, the two are very curious about each other (and vice versa!).

If everything goes smoothly and the 'click' happens, the two will live together, with the great hope that they will contribute to the breeding core of sand cats—a species endangered in the Middle East, and we are doing everything to preserve it as part of the European Association of Zoos breeding program.

We are already crossing our fingers for an exciting desert love story!