Victor Loche

Victor -Jean- Francois Loche (* 1806 in Mandres (Seine- et- Oise ), † 1863 in Algeria) was captain of the French army and naturalist.

Loche took 1855/56 in an expedition to explore the Algerian Province Ouargla in the northern part of the Sahara. He discovered the sand cat, which he identified as hitherto unknown. The leader of the expedition was Captain Jean -Auguste Margueritte (1823-1870, stationed under the French flag in Algeria), in whose honor Loche the sand cat Felis margarita was the scientific name.

Works

• Catalogue of mammifères et des oiseaux en Algérie Observes. Bertrand, Paris, 1858.
• Histoire naturelle of mammifères. Bertrand, Paris 1867
• Histoire naturelle des oiseaux. Bertrand, Paris 1867