米ＮＹのアパートで保護したのは…ネコではなくピューマ

【ニューヨークＡＦＰ＝時事】米当局がニューヨーク市ブロンクスのアパートで保護したネコ科動物は、ネコではなく、体重約３６キロのピューマだった。（写真は米ニューヨークのアパートで保護されたピューマ。ブロンクス動物園提供）
　当局によると、ピューマは生後１１か月の雌で、名前は「サシャ」。警察と米国動物愛護協会（ＨＳＵＳ）、ニューヨーク市当局、ブロンクス動物園の職員が先週、合同で保護した。
　警察などは８月３０日、飼い主はサシャを引き渡し、搬出に立ち会ったと明らかにした。
　サシャはブロンクス動物園で先週末に獣医師の診察を受けた後、遺棄された大型ネコ科動物を世話するアーカンソー州のターペンタインクリーク動物保護区へ移された。
　ＨＳＵＳでペットの遺棄や虐待などの対応に当たるケリー・ドニタン氏は、「野生ネコ科動物はアパートなど家庭での飼育に適さないと飼い主が認めたので、このピューマは比較的運が良かった」と述べた。
　ニューヨーク市警（ＮＹＰＤ）のダーモット・シア本部長によると、本件は現在捜査中で、飼い主に関する情報などは現時点では明らかにできないという。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/09/02-12:41）

US authorities have rescued from a New York apartment a feline that was no house cat -- she was an 80-pound wild cougar.
The 11-month-old puma -- called Sasha -- was living inside a home in the Bronx, officials said.
She was rescued last week in a joint operation by police, the Humane Society of the United States, city officials and Bronx Zoo personnel.
The owner surrendered the big cat and was present during the removal, the groups said in a statement Monday.
The mountain cat was taken to the Bronx Zoo, where veterinarians examined her over the weekend.
Sasha was then transported to Turpentine Creek animal sanctuary in Arkansas, which cares for neglected big cats.
This cougar is relatively lucky that her owners recognized a wild cat is not fit to live in an apartment or any domestic environment, said Kelly Donithan, director of animal disaster response for the Humane Society.
The owner's tears and nervous chirps from the cougar as we drove her away painfully drives home the many victims of this horrendous trade and myth that wild animals belong anywhere but the wild, she added.
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said the case was under investigation and no further information, including about the owner, was immediately available.
Sasha isn't the first big cat or exotic pet to have come to the attention of authorities in New York.
Police removed a 425-pound adult tiger called Ming from an apartment in Harlem in 2003 while in 2004, an eight-year-old boy on Long Island was attacked by his father's pet leopard.
Animal rights activists want Congress to pass the Big Cat Public Safety Act, which would strengthen laws prohibiting the breeding and possession of species such as lions, tigers, cheetahs and jaguars.