Authorities were looking for a wild animal-domestic cat hybrid Thursday that had escaped its owners sometime earlier in the week on the south side of St. Thomas, Department of Planning and Natural Resources officials said.
The first-generation Savannah cat — a cross between a house cat and a serval, which normally lives in African wetlands — reportedly tore through a coop of chickens recently and may pose a danger to other birds, lizards, and possibly even to other cats and small dogs.
DPNR said it had received multiple calls from alarmed residents about the cat, which can weigh up to 25 pounds and leap eight feet at a standstill. One concerned St. Thomian was Sen. Ray Fonseca, who forwarded a neighbor’s social media message urging caution around the animal. The neighbor described the cat as the height of a medium-sized dog with the strength to tear open a wooden cage. She said the animal prowled her property between midnight and 5 a.m.
Not an expert in such wildlife, Jamal Nielsen, the DPNR’s media relations coordinator, declined to characterize the cat as dangerous or not. But an Oregon veterinarian with decades of experience with wild animals in Africa said the F1 Savannah cat was a menace capable of taking down prey as large as a goat kid.
She said typical cats posed a danger to fragile ecosystems and that a larger, faster, more aggressive version had no place on islands like St. Thomas.
A California Savannah cat breeder disagreed, saying the creature was simply playful and no more dangerous than a normal cat. She suggested it would make its way home in time and should be left alone. Other breeders, who sell male F1 kittens for up to $16,000 and females for up to $20,000, declined to return messages left Thursday seeking comment.
Nielsen said the cat’s owner had previously sought to import an actual serval but was thwarted by local laws against it. The Virgin Islands — unlike Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, parts of Texas, Vermont, and parts of Washington state — does not have a provision banning first-generation, or F1, Savannah cats.
Nielsen said the cat’s owners had been warned to recapture the animal before Tuesday or it may be trapped and potentially euthanized.
The Virgin Islands Code lists a $100 fine for allowing any “ferocious, or mischievous” animal to roam freely, he said.
Some breeders and Savannah cat enthusiasts online suggested F1 Savannahs are less sociable than their F2, or second generation, offspring and don’t like interacting with strangers or other pets unless properly socialized. They’re said to be not great with children, most other pets, or noisy environments.
Nielsen said anyone who sees the cat should call DPNR or the Agriculture Department.
