After the official confirmation of the 5 cats being the rare cat 'Caracal' after it was first reported by us on this website, there is another twist in the story yesterday when a photograph of the 6th cat was published in a news.
Several wildlife researchers have indicated that the 6th cat resembles more to be of 'Serval', an African cat. It was earlier identified as 'leopard-cat'. However, the doubt still persists on its actual identification. We are presenting two photographs below of the rescued cat suspected to be Serval. One is from a news published in One India and other shared by Mr. O.P. Singh, DFO, Kaimur Wildlife Division, Mirzapur.
Given the present doubt over the identification of the 6th cat, it is very important that the identification of the animal is first verified with the help of taxonomists.
The origin of the Caracals are still unconfirmed, but the local forest officials indicated that it may have been poached from Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary-Bihar which is less than 30 km from Sukrit forest range of Mirzapur and continous with Chandraprabha Wildlife Sanctuary in Chandoli.
Presently, all the animals are shifted to Lucknow zoo.
