In Métabief in the Doubs, an animal had been sought for several days by the firefighters and the French Office for Biodiversity. Preview Monday August 29 near the houses, the animal is in fact a Savannah cat. Explanations.
In the land of the lynx, inevitably, its silhouette intrigued. The feline, 1.5 to twice the size of a normal cat, was photographed on Avenue des Prés Verts in the ski resort of Métabief (Doubs). He had been seen for about ten days lapping up to the terraces of the houses. According to the commander of the Pontarlier fire brigade, this Savannah had taken up residence in this inhabited area where there are cats and food.
This is not a serval. The fairly common serval cat in Africa, lives mainly in the humid savannahs, but from a Savannah cat cross between a serval and a domestic cat.
The Savannah was finally recovered Tuesday, August 30 in the early morning by OFB staff. A cage trapped with food allowed him to be isolated. The day before, firefighters and biodiversity officers had tried several techniques to recover this wild but not dangerous animal. Lasso, net, hypodermic dart did not allow to get their hands on the cat!
According to’OFBthe French biodiversity office that we contacted, the owner of this unusual feline spotted in Metabief is known. He could be the subject of investigations if he does not have the appropriate documents for this type of animal. The Savannah does not have domestic cat status. Its possession is authorized, the reproduction is regulated. The generation of Savannah crosses is particularly taken into account. The animal captured at Metabief would come from a 2nd or 3rd generation breeding with a serval.
The Savannah cat is known to be a runaway. This breed of cats was created in the United States around 1986. This large cat is the result of crossing a male serval with a female cat, then the resulting male hybrid with a female cat.
The serval weighs between fifteen and twenty kilos, while the Savannah weighs between seven and fourteen kilos. It can measure up to forty centimeters (At the shoulder).
The town hall of Metabief advised residents not to intervene, but to contact the fire department if they perceived the animal again.