BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — Zoo Boise now has sand cats! Well, one sand cat for now.
Zoo Boise announced Thursday that it added a female sand cat, Nala, to its Small Animal Kingdom. The zoo also expects to add a male sand cat soon.
Nala was previously housed at the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. The male, named Simba, will be coming from the Living Desert in Palm Springs.
"Sand cats, sometimes called sand dune cats, are found in the arid deserts of Africa’s Sahara desert, the Arabian Peninsula and parts of central Asia," a zoo spokesperson said. "Sand cats are the smallest wild cat on the planet, but that doesn’t stop them from being ferocious. Sand cats are opportunistic hunters and have been known to attack and consume venomous snakes."
You can visit Nala (and Simba soon) at Zoo Boise’s recently reopened Small Animal Kingdom.
The inside portion is still closed, but Zoo Boise has created a new one-way path around the outside. Besides sand cats, you can now see spider monkeys, lemurs, a Komodo dragon and several other species.
Zoo Boise is currently open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a set number of tickets.
Tickets have to be reserved in advance for timed entries due to COVID-19.
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