Rare serval finds new home in Netherlands

An 18-month female serval (felis serval), who escaped from her home in the UAE and lost one of her legs in a car accident, has found a new home in the Netherlands.

The serval, a medium-sized wild cat from Africa, is an endangered species and is protected under Appendix II of the Cites convention.The cat herself is set to fly out as soon the official paperwork is completed.

She will thus be able to add to the world's shrinking gene-pool of servals, said Paul Vercammen, Operations Manager at the Sharjah-based Animal Manage-ment Consultancy, through whose efforts the wild cat got new home. "This particular animal managed to get out of her cage one evening and was hit by a car," he explained.

"The owner brought her to the Abu Dhabi-based British Veteri-nary Centre where, due to the complicated fracture of her leg, the decision was made to amputate."

At this stage, the owner unfortunately lost interest in the animal and abandoned her at the clinic, whose officials then approached Animal Management Consult-ancy for help to relocate her.

Being a protected species, servals cannot be kept as pets by private individuals without a permit.

The official noted the serval has very long legs in proportion to its body size. The legs are therefore not designed for speed but are very useful when walking through the long grass when hunting small birds and rodents.

As a member of the European Federation of Zoos and Aquaria, the staff at AMC's Breeding Centre approached their colleagues in Europe to see if someone would be interested in offering a permanent home for the cat.

"She is a perfectly healthy animal and the lack of one leg in no way limits her normal behaviour, or the ability to have babies of her own," Vercammen pointed out.

Having earlier been with Safari Beekse Bergen in Holland, where he worked for six years as assistant before making the UAE his new home, Vercammen has found the cat a home there.

The park has a breeding group of these elusive cats and has agreed to accommodate the wild cat as a partner for their latest-born male offspring.

She will likely fly out courtesy KLM Cargo, which has had considerable experience in handling special animal transports.

The official pointed out this is once again an excellent example of local and international cooperation having found a solution for a victim of the illegal trade in protected species.