At the end of December 2019, an exotic small cat was repeatedly spotted in the forests in the middle of Germany and reported by walkers to the veterinary authorities. By means of game cameras and live traps, attempts were made to track down and finally capture the animal. The strikingly marked animal turned out to be a male African serval and in early January it was finally successfully captured.

After the serval was captured, authorities attempted to locate the owner. Privately owned servals are required to be registered – however, no such animal was reported as escaped and there was no registration of a privately owned serval in the surrounding area. A veterinary examination also showed that the serval was not marked with a microchip so that no conclusions regarding its origin were possible. The assumption that the animal was kept illegally and either escaped or was even abandoned is therefore highly probable.

The veterinary office asked TIERART for help in mid-February when a permanent accommodation for the stray serval was sought. However, due to uncertainty about its origin and health status, it could not be moved to TIERART until it had spent several weeks in quarantine at an expert facility. During this time, the animal, which was very emaciated when it was found, was first fed up and finally dewormed, vaccinated and chipped according to regulations.

On 04.04.2020 the serval, which we named Kiano (African name, means as much as "full of joy"), could finally move into a large enclosure at TIERART Wild Animal Sanctuary. He settled in quickly and loves to snooze on a rock in the sun. Kiano is nevertheless very shy and reserved and often hides as soon as you approach his enclosure.