Pet African Wild Cat Escapes, Medchal-Malkajgiri Locals Panic

Hyderabad: A serval, a wild cat from Africa, that had escaped and is being raised as a pet by a family in Medchal-Malkajgiri district, caused a commotion in the village and its neighbourhood with people confusing it for a leopard and panicking.

Forest department employees, who rushed to the area in Kaiser Nagar in Gajularamaram, after receiving reports of a leopard on the loose, heaved a sigh of relief after discovering that the animal was a serval (Leptailurus serval) and was being raised as a pet.

After capturing the animal, forest officials, during their inquiries found that it was one of the many exotic pets being raised at Zon Groves and Farms in the area.

According to Medchal-Malkajgiri district forest officer Janakiram, the owners of the serval had all the permissions and documents to keep the imported animal.

Because of the spots on the skin, some locals who saw the animal, panicked presuming it to be a leopard, he said.

Servals can weigh up to 19 and 40 pounds with an average lifespan of around 10 years in the wild.

“It apparently escaped during feeding and the owners contacted the department for help to catch it,” he said. He said the ‘pet’ was returned to the owners. The farm owners have permissions for a pair of servals, Senegal parrots, Shamrock macaws and Sebastopol geese, he said.