Marisa Engelbrecht says the animal seen in the area probably is a serval cat, which is the size of a jackal and it poses no direct threat to any human being because it is afraid of humans. She says the area is their natural habitat and there is still a large number of these cats in the province.

This as the police spokesperson, Aafje Botma, contacted OFM News and reported that a concerned driver earlier this morning spotted what he described as a possible leopard that ran into the bushes. Engelbrecht, however, says the first instinct of the serval will be to run if it happens to come across people. She says the animal only relies on hunting snakes and rodents.

She adds that it's normal for people to confuse the serval cat with a leopard but she still does not understand why because the said animal is so small compared to a leopard, which she describes as a huge and bulky animal. According to her, the serval cat looks like a domestic cat but it’s a wild animal. Engelbrecht says it’s the same case with the cheetah and leopard in the neighbouring country of Namibia, where the locals always confuse these two animals.

Botma said although the driver was not 100% sure about the nature of the animal, they urge local residents to not approach the animal and always be extra vigilant. She said the police and the nature conservation authorities were informed and were already on their way to the area to search for the animal. This comes a few weeks after a lion was captured in the road between Makwassie and Wolmaransstad after it escaped from its cage. The lion was lost in transit between Wolmaransstad and Makwassie before it was recaptured. A picture of the animal was shared on social media. Police thanked motorists on Twitter who tipped them off about the animal.

OFM News