Police Captured a Big African Cat, Resembling a Cheetah, Running Through the Streets in Reading, Pennsylvania: The Animal Could be Worth $20,000 to $30,000

Police captured a big African cat, resembling a Cheetah, running through the streets in Reading, Pennsylvania. 

Reports about the spotted feline started coming in on Nov. 3 in Reading, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia. When officers tracked it down, they initially thought they'd found a cheetah.

The Animal Rescue League of Berks County says they got a call from the city's police department about the big cat on Saturday.

When staff responded, they found a cat called an African serval. The cats are illegal to own in Pennsylvania without a license, and the state's game commission says no one in Berks County has such a license.

The 1- to 2-year-old female was declawed and very friendly, leading animal workers to presume it had been a pet, raised in a home since it was a kitten.

The animal could be worth $20,000 to $30,000 on the black market, said Tom Hubric, the animal rescue league's interim executive director.

He speculated the owner may have wanted to breed the serval with a domesticated cat to create what's called a Savannah cat. Those are legal to own, he says.

The cat was transported Thursday to a big cat rescue facility that can give it the special diet and extensive exercise it needs.

"She's just a magnificent animal and she's captivated everyone who has seen her," Hubric said.

San Diego Zoo Global Releases New Video of the Largest Cheetah Litter Delivered at the Zoo

Get ready for more cheetah cubs than usual as San Diego Zoo Global releases new video of the largest cheetah litter delivered at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park’s off-exhibit breeding center.

Addison, an 8-year-old cheetah, gave birth to the six cubs in November. The litter is above average for cheetahs, according to zoo officials, and it was a surprise for Addison’s keepers.

Officials say they spotted three or maybe four cubs in the mother’s womb so after the cubs arrived, they were surprised to count six cubs in the birthing center.

Addison has had successful litters before. Her most recent one was four cubs.

These cubs will stay with her for a year. After that, zoo officials said they may go to other sites to help bolster the population of cheetahs.

Currently, it’s estimated that there are 10,000 cheetahs in the world today. That’s down from 100,000 in 1900, according to San Diego Zoo Global.

A Cheetah Was Spotted Wearing a Bright Orange Scarf Crossing a Highway Near Creston, British Columbia

Ottawa (AFP) - Canadian conservation officials and federal police were on the lookout Friday for a cheetah wearing a bright orange scarf and wandering through the snow-covered outback.

The big African cat was spotted crossing a highway near Creston, British Columbia on Thursday by a motorist who stopped to photograph it.

"It was wearing an orange scarf or collar, suggesting it's a domesticated animal. So we don't believe it's a serious threat," British Columbia conservation officer Joe Caravetta told AFP.

He said cheetahs are typically shy and less aggressive than other large cats, and "this one is probably used to being around people."

But as a precaution, local schoolchildren have been kept indoors and residents have been asked to mind their small pets, a spokesman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.

Ownership of exotic animals is allowed in British Columbia with a special permit, but no permits have been issued to anyone living in the area where the cheetah was spotted, Caravetta noted.

Three conservation officers have been sent to track the cheetah, helped by a fresh snowfall. With temperatures hovering just below freezing, Caravetta said a cheetah can probably last only a few days in the Canadian wilds.

The Toronto Star quoted a local school administrator as saying "some of the (students) are excited" about a cheetah in their midst. The official noted that bear or cougar sightings are common in the Canadian outback, but nobody in this area has ever seen a cheetah.

The driver who spotted the animal told public broadcaster CBC: "My first thought was, 'that's a cheetah. What's it doing there?'" She described it as panting and seemingly in distress.

She said she tried to "coax it over," but the animal just kept walking up the road until it disappeared over a snow bank.

Cheetah, The Chimpanzee that Starred in Tarzan Movies Dead at Age 80

Condolences poured in to a Florida primate sanctuary Wednesday after it announced the death of Cheetah, a chimpanzee that the sanctuary said starred in the Tarzan movies during the 1930s.

The chimpanzee died Saturday after suffering kidney failure the week before, the sanctuary foundation said on the site. He was roughly 80 years old, Debbie Cobb, the sanctuary's outreach director, told CNN affiliate WFLA.

Cobb recalled Cheetah as an outgoing chimp who loved finger painting and watching football and who was soothed by Christian music, the station said.

Several chimpanzees appeared in various Tarzan movies, many of which were popular in the 1930a and 1940s. The Florida primate sanctuary said its chimp appeared in the Tarzan moves from 1932 through 1934, according to WFLA.

According to the website Tarzanmovieguide.com, "Tarzan the Ape Man" was released in 1932 and "Tarzan and his Mate" in 1934. Both movies starred Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan. Weissmuller was the first speaking Tarzan, according to the Internet Movie Database website. He died in 1984.

Weissmuller appeared in Tarzan movies through 1948, according to the online movie guide site, with other chimpanzees appearing in the role of Cheetah.

Cheetah came to the primate sanctuary from Weissmuller's Florida estate around 1960, Cobb told WFLA. He was the most famous of the sanctuary's 15 chimpanzees.

"He was very compassionate," Cobb said. "He could tell if I was having a good day or a bad day. He was always trying to get me to laugh if he thought I was having a bad day. He was very in tune to human feelings."

Cheetah was known for his ability to stand up and walk like a person, sanctuary volunteer Ron Priest told WFLA.

Another distinguishing characteristic: "When he didn't like somebody or something that was going on, he would pick up some poop and throw it at them," Priest said. "He could get you at 30 feet with bars in between."

Still, Cobb told the station, "He wasn't a chimp that caused a lot of problems."

Cheetah is not believed to have any children, Priest said.

His age was advanced for a chimpanzee, Cobb told WFLA. In the wild, the average chimp survives 25 to 35 years, she said, and they can live 35 to 45 years in zoos.

Another chimpanzee named Cheeta lives on a primate sanctuary in Southern California named C.H.E.E.T.A (Creative Habitats and Enrichment for Endangered and Threatened Apes). The sanctuary's creator, Dan Westfall, said on its web site that he was saddened to hear of Cheetah's passing in Florida. He said he and others at the sanctuary "send our deepest sympathies to our colleagues at Suncoast."

Westfall writes on the site that he was told Cheeta was one of the original chimps in the Tarzan movies during the 1930s and 1940s. However, when he began working with a writer on Cheeta's biography, research revealed "that our Cheeta is unlikely to be as old as we'd thought, although he is clearly old," Westfall wrote. "It is also difficult to determine which movies, if any, our Cheeta may have been in."

People from several countries offered condolences for Cheetah on the Florida sanctuary's site in several different languages. A few credited him with helping them develop a love for animals.

"Cheetah will remain forever remembered in history," someone in Malta wrote.

Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan hold hands with Cheetah the chimpanzee in "Tarzan and His Mate."