African wildcat captured in Las Vegas

Molly Ball

Friday, Oct. 8, 2004 | 11:08 a.m.

As animal control officers approached the African wildcat lying on the lawn of a southeastern Las Vegas home, it bounded from the ground directly to the top of a 6-foot-high fence, then leapt atop the flat-roofed carport of the single-story house.

The officers were eventually able to capture the nimble feline Thursday morning. Authorities believe it escaped from a nearby home, Clark County Animal Control Sgt. David March said.

A resident of the 1500 block of Margo Drive, near Tropicana Avenue and Nellis Boulevard, had called authorities about it, thinking it was a mountain lion, March said.

In fact, it was a serval -- a large-eared, spotted wildcat native to the African plains and known for its vertical leap.

Servals are not endangered, though experts report that their numbers in the wild are dwindling, partly due to the fur trade.

March described the animal's size as about equal to an full-grown spaniel and said it did not pose a danger to humans.

The cat's owner had not been reached Thursday afternoon. March said officers strongly suspected a person living down the street from where the animal was caught.

The serval was being kept at the county's shelter, the Dewey Animal Care Center, where it would be held for three days. If the cat isn't claimed in that time, authorities will start making other arrangements, March said.

The serval would not be put up for adoption in the community, March said.

When the owner is found, he may be subject to prosecution for violations of county code, including owning an exotic animal without a permit and failing to properly contain the animal, March said.

Animal Control officers advocate doing more to see that Las Vegas's many exotic pets are well cared for. A county ordinance has been drafted and awaits hearing by the Clark County Commission.

The proposed ordinance gives specific requirements, such as cage size, for venomous snakes and a variety of exotic mammals -- from big cats and gorillas to rhinos and kangaroos.

Currently, Animal Control consults with only zoning authorities as they decide whether to issue permits for the keeping of such animals.

The proposed ordinance would allow officers to investigate complaints about exotic animals being neglected or improperly cared for, the way they routinely do for dogs, cats and other ordinary pets.

It also would set a stricter standard for owners of exotic animals: They would have to have at least two years' experience with the animal family in question and a letter of recommendation from the place they got the experience.

"There are a lot of exotic animals in this town," March said. Some live in high style with entertainers like Siegfried and Roy, who keep tigers at their Las Vegas compound.

Others are not so lucky. "It's very easy to get an exotic animal. If you have the money, you can get anything on the Internet," March said.

"It's a status thing, it's a macho thing -- people want to get something nobody else has," he said. "But they don't have an understanding of what it takes to keep the animal."

Wolf cubs may look like adorable puppies, but they grow up to be dangerous and very good at escaping, March said. Leopards "usually have really bad attitudes." Monkeys often throw their feces, and males openly engage in X-rated conduct, he said.

Some animals are banned outright by state law because they aren't native to the area but could survive in the wild here: alligators, copperheads and cobras, for example.