Dubai police warn residents of 'wild cat'

Dubai police have warned inhabitants of a residential neighbourhood in the skyscraper-studded city that a "wild cat" is loose in the area.

Police didn't name the animal at large but the government's Dubai Media Office said officers were combing the city's The Springs neighbourhood for the cat.

Police urged the public to call them if they spotted the animal.

"Dubai Police said bringing out any kind of wild animal into a public environment is strictly prohibited under the emirate's laws and violators can face a jail term of up to six months in addition to severe financial penalties," the Dubai Media Office said in a tweet.

The thrill of keeping lions, cheetahs and tigers as pets is popular in some quarters of the Gulf Arab states, where it is seen as a status of wealth and power.

Though it is illegal to keep as pets endangered or threatened wildlife in the United Arab Emirates, there have been numerous sightings of Emirati men in luxury cars accompanied by pet lions along for the cruise.

A lion escaped from a house in Dubai's Al Barsha neighbourhood in 2016 before police seized it.