Des (FKA Desiree)

Male Serval
DOB unknown
Rescued  10/11/2009

Serval Rescue! An African Serval was limping along in the Arizona desert until he collapsed alongside a road.

He had almost completely given up the will to live. He was probably a pet or perhaps used in the hybrid breeding scheme that has become all the rage where Servals are bred to domestic house cats to produce Savannah Cat hybrids. The domestic cats are often killed in the process. The kittens sell for thousands of dollars, but when they mature they typically spray and bite and make awful pets. The hybrids are usually discarded by the time they are two or three years old.

This Serval was obviously abandoned and was placed by authorities at the Tucson Wildlife Center, a non-profit sanctuary dedicated to native wildlife. Lisa Bates-Lininger the founding president of the Tucson Wildlife Center said, “She was dehydrated and tired and just ready to give up. She may have died last night, but luckily we got her in. We got her emergency treatment, fluids for shock, and she’s also missing a rear leg.” (It was years later, when we first sedated Desiree, that we discovered she was a he.)

Despite 18 media posts including TV news in Tucson and a post on Craig’s list looking for the owner but no one admits to having abandoned this Serval to die in the desert.  Thanks to some very generous supporters the serval was flown to her new permanent home at Big Cat Rescue where she is recovering well.  Servals can live into their late teens and proper care is thousands of dollars each year. His new 1,200 square foot Cat-a-tat had to be specially modified to accommodate her three-legged hopping. It seems that he only recently lost his leg as he has a very difficult time keeping his balance.  We wrote to the vets in the Tucson area to find out if any of them know what tragedy caused him to lose a limb and to see if there is any way to prosecute those who exposed her to such danger, but never heard any more.

Sponsor Desi http://big-cat-rescue.myshopify.com/products/serval-sponsorship

The Unsolved Mystery of Desi Serval

March 28, 2019

Des Serval in his favorite afternoon napping spot!