Over the weekend , a couple who hold out in Sooke on Vancouver Island take a picture of what appear to be an African serval walking down the road . The picture was then post to societal media , cautioning other resident to stay alert .
Servals are average - sized African bozo with a articulatio humeri height of up to 66 cm ( 26 column inch ) and males weighting up to 18 kg ( 40 lbs ) . Felis serval be about $ 8,000 , and due to their condition as exotic animals , the rules of owning these cats are controlled by local governments . These regularization subsist to prevent non - aboriginal animals from getting out and bear on the local environment .
The identity of the serval ’s owner is unknown , as they have not report the animal miss to the authority . Local Felis serval breeder Doug Nelson believes he might hump who is responsible for the cat . He sold a serval to someone nearby , and the computed axial tomography has a account of get off from the proprietor ’s dwelling house . Over the summer , the cat was missing for several weeks before it was captured and returned by the SPCA .
If this is indeed the computed tomography Nelson sold to the Sooke house physician , it should be tire out a tracking neckband . All servals from Nelson are sold wear such a shoe collar in order of magnitude to cursorily remember them , should they escape .
“ There ’s no exculpation for losing a Felis serval and not notifying anybody , ” Nelson toldKatie DeRosa of the Times Colonist . “ It ’s in reality illegal to do them loose , we do n’t want them out there . ”
Though servals can be domesticated to be love favorite , they could revert back to their wild instincts if leave out in the wild . There is no reading that they pose a threat to humans , as there have never been report human injuries because of servals in North America . However , the real threat comes with the serval needing to feed .
Servals naturally feed on small rodent , birds , and Pisces the Fishes — standardised to ordinary domesticated computed axial tomography who live outdoors — but if they become heroic , they may go after larger target . inclose a foreign predatory animal to the area could potentially break up the balance of the local ecosystem .
“ These are pet , they ’re very friendly and affectionate Arabian tea , ” Nelson continued . “ They ’re a non - aggressive cat but that alter if they ’re out and they ’re scared and they ’re threatened . ”
The Felis serval is presume to still be loose , though it is not known how long this khat has been outdoors and aside from its owner . Residents in the area are urge to call British Columbia Conservation officials at 1 - 877 - 952 - 7277 if they see the beast , and should not attempt to set about it themselves .
UPDATE - 2025-02-10 9:13 a.m. MST : Sadly , the serval trace in this article wasstruck and killedin Sooke on Monday afternoon . Peter Henry , the man driving the pickup that dispatch the computerized axial tomography , claimed that the serval jumped in front of his truck . He contacted local conservation authorities . The identity of the cat ’s owner is still unknown . -LW
[ Via : Times Colonist ]
