Rare wild cat is recovering after surgery

ABU DHABI // A rare cat at Al Ain Zoo is showing signs of recovery after surgeons removed a piece of wire from its stomach last month.

Veterinarians said it would take another week for the five-year-old male caracal to receive the all-clear.

Dr Muzhar Iqbal, from the Central Veterinary Hospital in Al Wathba, performed the operation to remove the one-centimetre-long piece of wire on June 7. Dr Arshad Toosy, the zoo's manager of veterinary operations, said the cat, one of five in the collection, had been doing well. "He is eating whatever is being offered, and this is a good sign," he said. The team is waiting for biopsy results before issuing a clean bill of health.

Caracals are among the most-threatened predators in the UAE. They are often targeted by farmers because they sometimes prey on domestic animals such as goats.

The cat arrived at the zoo in 2007, after being confiscated from smugglers who had caught it in Yemen.

vtodorova@thenational.ae