Another big cat has popped up in the metro. Officials tranquilized a serval at 59th and Franklin Wednesday afternoon and it's now in the hands of the Humane Society.

Officials spent the afternoon pumping up the captured cat's fluids because servals are easily dehydrated and it was expected to be stressed when it regained consciousness in an unfamiliar environment.

The cat is otherwise in good condition.

Every now and then an exotic pet winds up in the city limits, as in the case of the serval found on Wednesday. They're illegal.

Diane Barger and her husband had just pulled up in their friend's driveway near 59th & Franklin when, "he says, 'look at what's in the backyard.'"

At first, they thought it was a bobcat pacing back and forth.

Albie Micklich saw it too and tells us, "I was just hoping it would stay in the yard and not come after us. Had to be 35 to 40 pounds."

Animal control officers eventually tranquilized the cat and Humane Society officials confirmed that it was a serval, a normally wild animal that had become someone's pet.

They're illegal to own within the city limits of Omaha.

A Sarpy County family owns a serval but the Smiths have a state permit that allows them to do so.

Stacey and Kip Smith raise animals as part of a federally licensed education program called Wildlife Encounters.

They say that too often people buy exotic animals not realizing the type of care they need.

In fact, the U.S. Humane society says 90-percent of wild animals forced into a domestic situation die within the first two years of captivity.

Stacey Smith says, "You need to have proper training, proper permits, proper licensing, proper education on an animal."

This serval found Wednesday had been cared for. It had been de-clawed and neutered but it wound up in a stranger's yard with the owner nowhere in sight.

The Humane Society says that if you live within city limits of Omaha, here are the pets you can choose: domestic dog, domestic cat, mini pig, rabbit, non-lethal fish, lizards that will grow to be no more than five-feet in length, non-venomous snakes that will grow to be no more than eight-feet in length.

As for that serval, it will not be returned to its owner. A home will be found elsewhere and the owner will be ticketed for having a non-pet animal in city limits. That can be punishable by a fine up to $500 and up to six months in jail.