‘Leopard’ spotted in Ohio turns out to be wild African cat on drugs, officials say

Mitchell Willetts
·2 min read
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A wild African cat seen wandering a suburban Ohio neighborhood has been captured and is being cared for by the Cincinnati Zoo, officials say.

Animal control workers responded to a call about a “leopard” spotted in Oakley — roughly 6 miles northeast of downtown Cincinnati — early in the morning Jan. 28, Cincinnati Animal CARE told McClatchy News.

Video captured in Oakley shows the spotted cat perched on a tree, WKRC reported March 7. It looks too small to be a leopard, but it’s clearly no house cat.

“It was sure a sight to see and after talking to the cat expert, he said we did a great job and also pretty lucky because this cat could’ve shredded us apart,” Chief Troy Taylor with the Hamilton County Dog Warden’s Office told WKRC.

The cat’s leg was broken during capture, the outlet reported.

Even after capturing the animal — which has been named Amiry — officials weren’t quite sure what they were dealing with, Cincinnati Animal CARE told McClatchy.

Officials carried out a DNA test and learned it was a serval cat, the organization said.

The Cincinnati Zoo is taking care of a wild serval (not the one pictured) after it was captured in a suburban Ohio neighborhood.
The Cincinnati Zoo is taking care of a wild serval (not the one pictured) after it was captured in a suburban Ohio neighborhood.

Servals are a wild African cat species about as large as a medium-size dog, McClatchy News previously reported. While they are not domesticated, there is still a market for them as pets, though they are illegal to own in some U.S. states.

“Our initial thought was the cat was a hybrid F1 Savannah, which is legal to own in Ohio, but our expert was pretty certain Amiry was a serval, which are illegal,” Cincinnati Animal CARE said.

Amiry received veterinary services from Cincinnati Animal CARE.
Amiry received veterinary services from Cincinnati Animal CARE.

Further testing also revealed the serval had cocaine in its system.

It’s not clear how it was exposed to cocaine, but investigators spoke with Amiry’s owner and no charges are being pursued, officials said.

After being treated by veterinary staff, the exotic feline was handed over to the Cincinnati Zoo.

“The serval has been receiving veterinary care in our Animal Health Center since he was brought here,” a zoo official told McClatchy in an email. “He’s doing well … (but) will likely be behind the scenes for a while.”

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