Verified source report
‘No one believed it’: how a YouTube video accidentally proved Libya’s sand cat really does exist
Wildlife photographer Mohammed Almuntasir had no idea what he had found until scientists started to get in touch When wildlife photographer Mohammed Almuntasir uploaded 18 seconds of footage to YouTube , he thought little more about the small, pale cat seen digging a hollow in the sand in the remote dunes of south-west Libya. The video, however, posted in 2017, turned out to be the first material evidence that the sand cat ( Felis margarita ), the world’s only felid adapted to true desert conditions, existed in the country. Continue reading...
coverage / Source report
What happened
According to The Guardian’s source item, ‘No one believed it’: how a YouTube video accidentally proved Libya’s sand cat really does exist, Wildlife photographer Mohammed Almuntasir had no idea what he had found until scientists started to get in touch When wildlife photographer Mohammed Almuntasir uploaded 18 seconds of footage to YouTube , he thought little more about the small, pale cat seen digging a hollow in the sand in the remote dunes of south-west Libya. The video, however, posted in 2017, turned out to be the first material evidence that the sand cat ( Felis margarita ), the world’s only felid adapted to true desert conditions, existed in the country. Continue reading…
Context
The development sits in VINI’s Global file for readers following international affairs, institutions, conflict, diplomacy, economics, and cross-border consequences. The original report is linked so readers can check the source account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The source item is dated 2026-06-24T11:00:43+00:00.
What to watch
Open questions include whether primary sources issue follow-up statements, whether local or market impacts become clearer, and whether additional reporting changes the timeline or adds material context.
Source
Primary source: ‘No one believed it’: how a YouTube video accidentally proved Libya’s sand cat really does exist via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.
This source-cited VINI report links to the original publisher record. VINI does not republish third-party article bodies without rights clearance. 1 source listed.
Source links
- ‘No one believed it’: how a YouTube video accidentally proved Libya’s sand cat really does existThe Guardian - 2026-06-24T11:00:43+00:00
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