African serval cat captured in wilds of west-end Halifax

This was no ordinary cat. 

It got no ordinary response. 

One woman who saw the near-40-pound animal took to Facebook with an urgent warning: “Please bring your cats/dogs/children inside until it’s captured,” she wrote. 

“Call 311 with sightings. Do not approach!” 

A wildcat of sub-Saharan Africa prowled the streets of Halifax in the Cowie Hill-Armdale area. One photo after another started popping up on Facebook of a golden, black spotted serval cat. One showed the cat peering up at a street ledge where a much smaller feline sat. 

Was it considering its next meal? Maybe so, says a Nova Scotia zoologist. 

“They’re predators, and you can’t train them to feed on dry dog food,” said Andrew Hebda, retired curator at the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History. “They are raw meat eaters.” 

Servals have distinctive features: large ears, disproportionally long legs, and a pronounced snout.  

“They don’t make ideal pets,” says Hebda. In the wild, they require lots of territory to roam. They’re not made to lounge like a domesticated cat. “Is it ideal to have inside your house, no. They’re not designed for sitting. They require a lot of space and exercise and they’re not something you put on a leash.” 

One woman and her Australian cattle dog came upon the serval on Sunday evening. It was an intense encounter.  

“My dog and this cat both put up their defences when they got close to each other,” she said. “My dog ran behind our shed… and the next thing I heard was her barking aggressively and a very loud cat hiss.” 

The woman, who did not want to be identified, said she was in shock but able to drag her dog inside her home before any harm was done.
The woman lives on Lanigan Court and watched the cat roaming around the area.  She said the cat was bigger than her dog, who weighs just shy of 40 pounds. 

She said she reported the cat to 311 and the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables. The cat wasn’t tracked down until the next day. HRM animal control and animal rescue volunteers captured it early Monday afternoon and sent it to DNRR. 

“The cat is alive and well and is currently under veterinary supervision,” said Patricia Jreige, a department spokesperson. The case is under review.  Most likely it will end up in a zoo or wildlife park, said Jreige. 

Conservation officers are trying to find out where the serval came from. If anyone has information on the origins of the cat, please contact a conservation officer at the DNRR Waverley office at 902-861-2560. 

Serval cats are wild animals and should not be kept as pets, said the department. It is illegal to have or import captive wildlife without appropriate permits from the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables. The Department does not issue permits to keep non-domestic cats as pets.