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A young stray cheetah was captured on Sunday while roaming the streets of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, an animal welfare activist told media agencies.
Raghad Auttabashi of the Al Rahma Animal Welfare and Rescue Society helped rescue the big cat, and said it may have been a pet for someone living in the city, The Associated Press reported.
The cheetah appears to be between seven and eight months old with an injured foot, and had a broken chain around its neck, according to the news agency. It was found in the Al Karamah neighborhood, a close drive away from the massive reflective skyskrapers that populate the city.
Auttabashi told CNN that there was no problems during the rescue of the animal, adding that “everyone was fine and safe.”
Animal control officials took the cat to a wildlife conservation center, Auttabashi told AP.
Cheetahs are indigenous to Africa and some parts of the Middle East, but are not known to inhabit the United Arab Emirates or even the Arabian Peninsula. The cat is the fastest land animal, sprinting up to speeds up to 70 miles per hour, and used to also populate much of Central Asia and other parts of Asia.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed the cheetah on its vulnerable species list, and it is also included in the U.S. Endangered Species Act.