African wildcat spotted in central Pa.

Police are asking locals to be on the lookout for a roaming wildcat, which appears to be an African wildcat called a serval. Patton Township police officers received a report Friday night of a cheetah running across a roadway, but the animal turned out to be a serval, police Sgt. Frank Monroe said.

People should not be alarmed by the spotted cat, which was very passive when police unsuccessfully attempted to capture it, Monroe said.

The main concern is preventing the cat or anyone looking for it from getting hurt.

"I don't want to see it get hit by a car, or someone stop on the highway and get hit by a car," Monroe said.

Police are trying to find the animal's owner, because the cat cannot survive a central Pennsylvania winter, Monroe said.

The animal has long legs and is twice the size of an average house cat, at about 25 pounds and 18 to 20 inches tall.

The state Game Commission requires licenses for serval owners. No license has been issued in Centre County, though Monroe said the cat could have wandered from another county.

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Information from: Centre Daily Times, http://www.centredaily.com