It wasn’t your typical roadkill. A state Thruway Authority spokesman confirmed today that a dead serval — a spotted, medium-sized wild cat native to Africa — was discovered Aug. 23 on the eastbound lane of the Thruway at milepost 303 “in the vicinity of Interchange 40 (Auburn/Weedsport). “It was turned over to personnel at the state Department of Environmental...
This serval, an exotic, medium-sized cat native to Africa, was found as roadkill recently on the state Thruway. It weighed 30 pounds.A state Thruway Authority spokesman confirmed today that a dead serval — a spotted, medium-sized wild cat native to Africa — was discovered Aug. 23 on the eastbound lane of the Thruway at milepost 303 “in the vicinity of Interchange 40 (Auburn/Weedsport).
“It was turned over to personnel at the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The animal may have been an escaped pet,” said Betsy Feldstein, spokesperson for the state Thruway Authority.
One strong possibility is that it escaped from Glenn Donnelly’s private zoo/wildlife area, which he maintains on the outskirts of Weedsport. The former president of DIRT Motorsports keeps 48 different wild/exotic cats at his place, several of them servals.
These (the servals) are animals that came to me from other people,” he said, noting that they have identifiable microchips surgically placed in their necks.
“These were formerly pets and I put them in a nice area, a big open area (on my property). One of them could have gotten out. I don’t know if this was one of those,” he said.
DEC spokesman Yancey Roy said the animal is currently being examined at the DEC office in Syracuse and that it does have some kind of “tag.” He said officials there as of late this afternoon had still not confirmed the animal’s origin.
“I know it weighs 30 pounds,” Roy said, adding that “that someone first called it in as a 150-pound leopard. I can see that. It has spots.”
Servals are found in the African Sahara in scrub country close to water. “The serval is lightly built with very long legs; it has a small head with large eyes and ears, set on a long neck. Its coat is yellow-orange with black spots,” according to the Columbia Encyclopedia.
It’s head and body reach about three-feet long, with a ringed tail more than a foot long. “The serval is among the swiftest and most agile of cats and catches birds flying as much as 6 feet from the ground. It also hunts insects, lizards, rodents, hares, and small antelopes,” the encyclopedia said.
It is legal to possess a serval as a pet if one has a U.S. Department of Agriculture “exhibitor's" permit, which Donnelly “apparently has,” Roy said.