Spring Break
Animal seen on the campus not a cougar
Roxana Hadadi
The animal spotted on the campus Thursday is not a cougar, University Police said in a campus alert sent out to students Friday.
After the animal was spotted again Friday afternoon near the same wooded area it was seen Thursday, University Police searched the location and obtained video of the feline, which is now available on the department's website. Images from the video were then shown to the state Department of Natural Resources, who confirmed the animal is not a cougar.
Instead, the animal appears to be a Savannah Cat, a hybrid of a domestic short hair cat and a Serval, a larger African feline, the campus alert said. The Savannah Cat can grow to be as large as 35 pounds, which may have led to why those who spotted the cat thought they saw a cougar, an animal that is native only to Florida and states west of the Mississippi River.
In fact, the state Department of Natural Resources has doubted the animal was a cougar since the sightings begin at 6 a.m. yesterday and continued while local news media and University Police searched the campus for the feline.
However, the animal is still on the loose, and students, faculty and staff members are encouraged to continue to call in their sightings to University Police so the department can catch the feline, the campus alert said.
roxanadbk@gmail.com
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Viewing Comments 1 - 9 of 15
Dave Sanders
posted 8/02/08 @ 7:49 AM EST
Keep in mind servals can jump eight feet in the air and feed on raw meat. A hungry one is not to be fucked with.
Hiroko
Hiroko
posted 8/02/08 @ 12:43 PM EST
What are they going to do with the thing once they catch it?
Kill it?
And what is an African Feline doing in Maryland?
Jonathan
posted 8/03/08 @ 2:56 AM EST
They will kill it and eat it. Don't kid yourself jimmie, a cow would eat you if he got the chance!
Terry Howe
posted 8/03/08 @ 2:56 AM EST
Try looking up "Savannah Cat" in Goggle. They can cost $1000 up to $16,000 from a number of "breeders" in the US.
jasiri
posted 8/03/08 @ 5:09 PM EST
This does not look like a Savannah. It's body structure more closely resembles a Bengal, and a well fed one at that. Both the Savannah and Bengal, although hybrids, are domestic cats, not wild animals!
Marjorie Wren
posted 8/03/08 @ 6:48 PM EST
I am a Savannah breeder and have owned several Servals in the past, I'd like to educate some of the folks who have posted comments before me.
Servals are not aggressive animals, they are by nature a "flight before fight" animal and I have never seen a documented case where a Serval has biten a person. (Continued…)
Cindy
posted 8/03/08 @ 7:45 PM EST
Oh no, someone's seriously missing their pet. I hope the captors are intelligent and don't do anything stupid to hurt the poor cat. This is a domesticated pet here people!
Chel
posted 8/05/08 @ 2:20 PM EST
No one is "missing a pet." Some owner (drug dealer?) bought an animal that looked pretty and then found out the real deal.. wild animals are meant to do what this guy does! Live in the wild. (Continued…)
Amanda
posted 2/13/09 @ 10:45 AM EST
A savannah is neither "mutt" nor "moggie" nor "wild animal".
It is a HYBRID which is a MIX between a wild animal and a domestic. The breed was developed as a way for people to get what looks like the wild serval, but without the problems associated w/ owning a wild animal. (Continued…)
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