Serval

Felis serval

Range: Native to Africa south of the Sahara.

Habitat: Open savannas, open brush or forest areas, in rocky areas on mountains. Within these habitats, servals can be found near marshy areas or rivers. A serval’s home territory always has some source of water.

Description: This cat is a medium-sized, long-legged member of the cat family. Head and body length is about three feet. Tail length is an additional 12 to 14 inches. Height is about 22 inches at the shoulder and weight ranges from 20 to 40 pounds. Servals have a yellow-brown ground color marked with black spots and stripes. There are two horizontal black bands on the foreleg and the tail is black ringed. This cat has very large oval-shaped upright ears whose inner margins almost touch. Hearing is acute. There is considerable variation in color and a very light color phase that is almost spotless is fairly common. This light phase was at one time thought to be a separate species until it was discovered that the dark and light phase animals may be born in the same litter.

Characteristics: Although servals have long legs, they employ the stalk and strike hunting technique common to most cats. They can run fast over short distances and when hunting in tall grass, they have been seen leaping through the grass.

Servals are primarily nocturnal, solitary and terrestrial, however, if pressed, they are good climbers and swim well with no fear of water. Servals feed on a variety of prey species that include rodents, lizards, hyraxs, insects, birds (some caught on the wing with the flick of a paw), and small antelopes. Fish eating has also been observed. Mole rats are a favorite prey and it is thought that the serval’s large ears aid in detecting the underground scratchings of these burrowing animals.

Gestation/Reproduction: Servals are mature at about 2 ½ years. They have about a 70-day gestation period. Two to three kittens is an average litter size. Nesting may be in a large clump of grass or in the abandoned burrow of another animals such as a porcupine. In captivity, servals have lived up to 20 years.

There is one serval subspecies that is on the U.S. Endangered Species List, the Barbary serval, found in southern Algeria.