We smell a “Cocaine Bear” spinoff in the near future.
Ohio authorities were flabbergasted to capture an escaped African wild cat that later tested positive for nose candy.
The cocaine cat caper unfolded during a January traffic stop. The animal jumped out of the car and quickly climbed a tree, according to media reports.
Hamilton County Dog Warden deputies later responded to sightings of a “leopard” in a tree in Oakley, a Cincinnati neighborhood, local affiliate WLWT reported.
Accompanying video footage shows the “high” flying feline crouching on a branch at night like a scene out of National Geographic.
“These types of animals are considered dangerous,” Chief Dog Warden Troy Taylor told local station WKRC this week.
Rescuers were able to retrieve the furry fugitive, known as “Amiry,” and bring it to Cincinnati Animal Care (CAC) for analysis.
Subsequent DNA tests confirmed the animal is a serval, a medium-sized feline that resides in the African savannah. They’re known for having the largest ears of any cat, using them to detect movements in the grass like fleshy radar dishes.
“Our initial thought was the cat was a hybrid F1 Savannah, which is legal to own in Ohio, but our expert was pretty certain Amiry was a serval, which are illegal to own,” CAC community engagement manager Ray Anderson explained to WLWT.
And that wasn’t the only shocking revelation of the day: Drug tests showed Amiry had cocaine in his system.
“Toxicology came back the animal was positive for narcotics,” Taylor said. It’s unclear how the serval ended up ingesting the purrformance enhancing drug.
The stimulant may have helped anesthetize the long-eared lammist, which reportedly suffered a broken leg during capture.
Amiry has been transferred to the Cincinnati Zoo while an investigation continues. Authorities say the cat’s owner has been cooperating with the probe, and no charges are expected.
WLWT noted that while it is illegal to keep servals as pets in Ohio, they are allowed in neighboring Kentucky and Indiana.
Officials are thanking their lucky stars that, unlike the investigators in “Cocaine Bear,” they weren’t harmed during the hunt for the snorting serval.
“It was sure a sight to see and after talking to the cat expert, he said we did a great job and [were] also pretty lucky because this cat could’ve shredded us apart and killed us,” Taylor said.