A debate has erupted on the Internet about the exotic cat, which was mistaken for a cougar this week in Vancouver – and Carol Baskin weighed his opinion.
The co-star of the hit Netflix documentary “Tiger King” challenged the assessment of conservationists, who identified the spotted cat as a savannah cat after helping police fight the animal on Wednesday.
The savannah is a hybrid breed that originated by crossing wild servals with domestic cats.
“You were deceived if someone told you it was a hybrid. It’s a serval,” Baskin wrote on Twitter on Thursday, echoing the views of a number of other social media users.
“As someone who has been saving servals and their hybrids for 30 years, I can assure you that the only reason they call it the savannah is because they know there is a law against owning a serval.
Keeping a serval as a pet is illegal in many jurisdictions, but not everywhere. Although the British Columbia government does not ban the possession of servals, this is strongly discouraged by the SPCA.
“Hailing from many parts of Africa, serval cats roam the savannas and wetlands hunting prey. They have a poor quality of life when kept as pets,” the BC SPCA website said.
“In the wild, servals will jump high in the air to catch flying birds, and can hit fish hard enough to stun them. They are not easy to train and often mark their territory with urine.
The Animal Welfare Organization said it was “extremely challenging” to meet the nutritional and veterinary needs of the serval.
As early as 2019, the SPCA seized 13 servals, including three serval kittens, from a British Columbia breeder, claiming the animals were found in “appalling living conditions”.
Vancouver’s Animal Control Act prohibits the possession of cats, such as lions and tigers, with the exception of domestic cats. CTV News contacted the city to confirm that the bylaw applies to servals.
Wednesday’s video of the incident shows the exotic cat walking and running near Granville Street and King Edward Street, a busy intersection close to many schools.
Police said they managed to catch the cat and bring it home with the help of conservation officials and that there was no risk to the public.
Add Comment