Chicago subarb sees wild Cat Native to Africa and Asia spotted by locals

A wild cat native to Asia and Africa was spotted strolling the streets of a Chicago suburb.

Authorities captured the cat, using a pole with a cord on the end as a way to lasso and cage the animal yesterday.

At the time, the animal was beneath the deck of a home in Chicago suburb Hoffman Estates, 33 miles northwest of Chicago.

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The cat was spotted for the first time last week, by a homeowner in the area.

Jan Hoffman-Rau told WBBM-TV that she took photos of the cat in her backyard on Friday morning. Rau then said the two made eye contact.

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“Then it starts coming up on my deck, jumped on my deck, actually looked at me through the window,” she said.

An animal sanctuary in Wisconsin was expected to retrieve the animal, who was unharmed, saying the cat would have a “healthy and happy life far away from Hoffman Estates”, according to authorities.

Native to central Asia and Africa, caracals prey on small mammals, birds and rodents. It has not yet been discovered how the cat ended up in Chicago.

This is not the first mention of an African caracal in the American suburbs. In 2021, a Detroit woman was authorized a ticket by local authorities for having four African caracals at her home, and ordered to find the cats another place to live, according to the Associated Press.

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The authorities were notified after one of the wild cats escaped from its enclosure.

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