NOTE: Jack Hanna was the guest on 11/25. This is the preliminary transcript, so there are some typos (like “servo” instead of “serval”).
“KING: And one more in this segment, and it’s a servo, am I pronouncing that right?
HANNA: Right, servo cat.
KING: I wouldn’t let him come near me.
HANNA: This is a servo cat from Mohr Park College here in California. Larry, this is a servo cat from Africa. You don’t see these cats very often. This cat was found up in Egypt.
If you ever watched “Discovery” or “National Geographic,” you’ll see the servo cat drawn on their mummies or the pyramids inside. It was a very regal animal. It’s one of the few cats in the world that can jump and catch a bird in free flight. They can jump up in the air six or eight feet and grab a bird flying buy. Isn’t it magnificent?
KING: “Magnificent” is the right word.
HANNA: Look at the back of the ears. You see those ears? Those are called eye spots. If this cat is eating something, and let’s say a hyena or something was going to come up and take it from it, it would think that the cat is looking backwards.
KING: Nature builds all things into these animals.
HANNA: Exactly. The legs are different lengths. The front and hind legs — you see the back legs?
KING: It gives spring.
HANNA: Exactly, jump up and catch the birds.
KING: Great.”
[text deleted]
“KING: We’re in the rain forest with Jack Hanna on “LARRY KING LIVE,” and a hungry ocelot.
HANNA: Larry, you may have heard about the ocelot.
KING: It smells a little weird.
HANNA: It’s a urine smell that they have to mark their territory, that type of thing. The ocelots were sold in the ’60s as a lot of pets. All spotted cats now are in danger, the ocelot now is endangered where it was in the ’60s and ’70s, it wasn’t in the ’80s.
KING: Is its coat wanted?
HANNA: Exactly. Larry, look at the magnificent collar of that coat. Absolutely gorgeous. You can see obviously why people hunted the animals. Now, obviously, coats, they can now make these fake furs, which is much, much better on everybody.
Ocelots, Larry, you smell that odor. That’s how they mark the territory. The ocelot is nocturnal. The ocelot is notorious for finding birds and stuff at night. And this cat, Larry, could walk by you and six inches from where you’re sleeping, you’ll never see this animal. And even to see one in the wild, Larry — I’ve only seen them twice maybe in all of my years in central and south America.
They’re difficult to find right now. They’re a solitary cat. They’re not a social cart, like a lion. They’re a solitary cat. They’re one that really represents the jungle. Like the jaguar for example in South America, Central America, the ocelot is next down….”
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0911/25/lkl.01.html
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