Pet African wildcat shot in Pennsylvania

A wild African cat known as a serval was shot and killed this week on a farm 20 miles from Philadelphia.

The serval was being kept as a pet by a local resident and escaped, The Harrisburg Patriot-News reported.

Wildlife Conservation Officer Chris Heil said he got a call from a Willistown farmer who said that the cat had been in his chicken coop. Heil told the man that Pennsylvania law allowed him to kill a wild animal going after livestock.

Servals are small wildcats native to the African savanna and mountain areas. They grow to be about 3 feet long and 2 feet high.

The species is not currently listed as endangered, but the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species describes servals as potentially endangered unless trade is controlled.

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