Nur Khan (Getty Images)
New York nightlife guru Nur Khan regularly hangs with party animals, but his wildest companion — a four-foot-long, 40-pound African serval cat named Bagheera — was put to sleep after biting Khan and a few of his pals.
The serval, native to sub-Saharan Africa, is nocturnal — ideal for a night owl like Khan, who presides over Chelsea hot spot Electric Room and counts Courtney Love, Axl Rose and Lindsay Lohan as close pals. The cat is known to hunt rodents and feeds on birds, reptiles and fish.
Tattooed, stoic Khan adopted the 6-month- old beast in 2006, when he was managing partner of the Gramercy Park Hotel’s Rose Bar. He kept Bagheera in his SoHo loft, where late-night visitors would pet the cat, who became known to nightcrawlers as “the tiger.”
“When I first saw him, he was absolutely stunning,” Khan told us. “He looked like a cheetah — very long, slender and tall. He wasn’t overly aggressive; you just needed to know how to handle him.”
One female friend of Khan’s learned the hard way about handling Bagheera, named after the character in Khan’s favorite children’s story, “The Jungle Book.” He bit both her and her boyfriend after breaking free of his cage and hiding under a deck. “He played like most cats but also had a wild side to him,” Khan said.
A month ago, Khan noticed Bagheera had grown lethargic and lost his appetite. “I got down on my hands and knees to check on him and pet him,” Khan said. “I had my face very close to his, trying to comfort him, and he bit me in the face right below my eye. I knew something was very wrong, and took him to the vet, and he turned out to be very sick.” The vet recommended the creature be put to sleep.
“I lost my crazy companion,” Khan said. “It was extremely sad.”
Khan, who’s traveling in Thailand, said he’s done with the exotic cats for now. “I’ll be going back to Rottweilers next time. Amazing dogs. I’ve had them all my life.”