Chinese zookeepers have discovered that this chubby wild cat has been snacking on frogs and rodents between meals after it arrived overweight and was put on a diet a year ago that yielded little results.
The serval, a wild cat native to Africa, arrived at Hongshan Forest Zoo in the city of Nanjing in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu a year ago.
At the time, zookeepers were worried about the health of the serval, named Niu Niu, as it was noticeably overweight, so they came up with a “weight loss plan” for the animal.
However, zookeepers were left stumped when they weighed the serval again after cutting down her food intake for a year and saw it had only lost around 0.7 lbs in all that time.
The serval named Niu Niu that was placed on diet in Nanjing, China.
(Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo/AsiaWire)
The serval named Niu Niu that was placed on diet in Nanjing, China.
(Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo/AsiaWire)
Zoo staff started to observe the wild cat more closely and discovered that Niu Niu is still wild and likes to hunt for its own food, snacking on frogs, insects, and rodents in the zoo in between meals.
In the footage, the serval is seen in its enclosure with a large body compared to the size of its head.
The second clip shows the serval trying to trap a ‘snack’ in the overgrowth before apparently munching on it.
It is unclear what the zoo plans to do next to help the chubby wild cat overcome its weight problem.
The serval named Niu Niu that was placed on diet in Nanjing, China. (Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo/AsiaWire) 
The serval named Lightning in Nanjing, China. (Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo/AsiaWire) 
The serval named Niu Niu that was placed on diet in Nanjing, China. (Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo/AsiaWire)
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Story By: Lee Bullen, Sub-Editor: Joe Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
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