No. Not an April Fool’s joke.

Every six months or so, we at The National have a story like this: “Big cat found in city streets.”

And we’re not talking about an overgrown tabby. These are the real deal. Lions and cheetahs, in particular, often brought into the country illegally, apparently for the amusement of their owners.

A young cheetah was found on the streets of Al Ain, a city about 100 miles from Abu Dhabi, only 10 days ago.

It was a story without a happy ending.

The cheetah died within a few hours of it being taken to the local zoo. The experts suggested the animal died from stress and malnourishment.

These kinds of stories are not new here.

Here is a video on an Emirati who collects unwanted wild animals. The notion of lions, a hyena, a crocodile and a boa constrictor in your back yard … is not illegal, if you follow the regulations locally.

A year ago, an injured cheetah was found on the streets of the capital. It apparently escaped its owner because it was found with a chain around its neck and a broken paw, which animal experts suggested an escape and leap from a rooftop.

The cheetah incident a year ago led to someone on our editorial staff doing a wide-ranging piece on the problem of wild animals brought here illegally.

The author notes that the guys who buy big cats — usually when they are small — generally have no idea of how to keep an adult of the species.

We also find out that zoos in the UAE tend to have big populations of big cats because of all those found, recovered or turned in — already inside the country.

The Al Ain zoo had 34 lions, at the time of the writing, and we reported that 20 percent of them had been turned in by people who had bought them as pets. We also wrote that two more lions recently recovered probably were going to be introduced into the zoo population.

A woman in Dubai, Ayesha Kelaif, runs a rescue clinic for exotic animals, from foxes to alpacas, but she doesn’t take in big cats.

She suggested that the wild-animal issue in the UAE stems from ignorance. “There are a lot of Emiratis who love animals but generally, there is a lack of awareness about how to look after their pets, and culturally, they are thought of as dirty. The conception is that they are not as important as humans.”

This is not a “pet” culture. Not really. Dogs may be “man’s best friend” in the West but they are considered unclean. Some people keep cats, but most of Abu Dhabi’s cats seem to be strays on the streets.

Maybe Mike Tyson and the creators of “The Hangover” bear some responsibility here. If you saw the movie, you may recall that Tyson kept a tiger at his Las Vegas mansion.

It was funny in the movie, because we knew it wasn’t real. But it seems obvious to wonder how many dopey guys with more money than common sense ordered up their own big cat, without taking heed of local laws, and some smuggler delivered.