iStockphoto / iridi composite
Step aside ‘Cocaine Bear’, there is a new coked-up animal on the loose that has captured the attention of America.
Reports of a ‘leopard’ being spotted in the up-and-coming Oakley neighborhood of Cincinnati turned out to be a large wild cat. Specifically, it was an African serval cat and it later tested positive for cocaine and was transferred to the world-famous Cincinnati Zoo.
Cincinnati Animal Care community engagement manager Ray Anderson told Cincinnati’s WLWT News they initially believed the large coked-up cat was “a hybrid F1 Savannah” cat. But a DNA test confirmed it was an African serval cat named ‘Amiry’.
The state of Ohio has pretty strict regulation when it comes to exotic pets. The state’s Dangerous Wild Animal Act “prohibits any person from owning, trading, selling or offering for sale a dangerous wild animal unless the animal was owned prior to the law taking effect.”
Their list of ‘dangerous wild animals’ includes “alligators, venomous and constrictor snakes, serval cats, and bears” as well as monkeys, bear, tigers, and elephants. There doesn’t appear to be a master list of ‘dangerous wild animals’ in Ohio but it’s pretty clear, exotic wild animals are not welcome in the Buckeye State.
However, serval cats are legal to own as pets in neighboring Kentucky and Indiana.
Capturing The Big Serval Cat On Cocaine In Cincinnati
After officials received reports of a ‘leopard’ and were able to spot the animal in a tree they were able to rescue/capture it with relative ease.
It then underwent the DNA test which determined it was an illegal African serval, but it was also discovered there was cocaine in the big cat’s system.
The CAC Medical Team says the African serval cat “tested positive for cocaine exposure” and it was then transferred to the Cincinnati Zoo.
WLWT News reports that ‘no charges are being pressed against the owner’ so presumably, they were able to determine who the owner was and this serval cat on cocaine wasn’t just abandoned in the woods like many lost-and-found pets.
The exotic big cat will now remain at the Cincinnati Zoo as its future is determined. The Cincinnati Zoo is home to Fritz, the 500-pound baby hippo who has stolen the hearts of millions on TikTok and Instagram:
@cincinnatizoo Fritz the hippo has the rainy day zoomies! ☔️ #cincinnati #cincinnatizoo #hippo #babyhippo
He’s perfect.
There haven’t been any African serval pictures on the Cincinnati Zoo social media channels yet. Presumably, they want to let the big cat who was on cocaine get comfortable in its new surroundings before making it an Internet celebrity.