This archive report was first published on 24 December 2019.
On December 23, 2019, a serval cat was mistakenly identified as a leopard by residents of Kajiado county, sparking a scare among the villagers.
The wild cat had wandered off from its natural habitat and was found with injuries, but thanks to the swift action of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), it has been treated and is set to be released back into the wild.
"The wild animal the public mistakenly reported to be a leopard in Tuala, Kajiado county this morning has been captured and found to be serval cat. She's being treated for injuries and will shortly be released back into the wild," said KWS in a statement.
Notably, this incident is not the first of its kind in the area. In December 2019, a middle-aged man was mauled by a lion in Tuala town, and in 2016, a pride of lions attacked and partly ate a man in Rongai on the outskirts of Nairobi.
