Native to Africa, particularly sub-Saharan regions, servals inhabit a variety of ecosystems, including savannahs, grasslands, and wetlands, where their specialized adaptations give them a significant advantage in hunting and survival.
Servals are medium-sized cats with slender bodies, weighing between 20 to 40 pounds (9 to 18 kilograms), and standing up to 24 inches (60 centimeters) at the shoulder. Their most striking features include a buff to golden-yellow coat adorned with black stripes and spots, a pattern that is unique to each individual, much like human fingerprints.
Another notable feature of the serval is its disproportionately large ears set on a small head, which are a distinctive physical trait and serve a critical function in their survival strategy. These oversized ears are highly sensitive to sound, enabling servals to detect the movements of prey hiding in the grasses or underground. Coupled with their long neck and legs, which elevate their height to see over savanna grasses, servals are adept at scanning their environment for potential threats and opportunities.
Servals exhibit remarkable hunting skills, utilizing both sight and sound to track down various prey. Their diet primarily consists of live rats, frogs, small birds, reptiles, and insects, reflecting their opportunistic feeding behavior. Servals employ a distinctive hunting technique, pouncing onto their prey with their forefeet and delivering a fatal blow by biting the neck or head. This method is highly effective, granting them one of the highest success rates among felines in capturing prey.
Servals are unique among felines for their flexibility in activity patterns, being active day and night. This adaptability allows them to exploit different prey species and avoid competition with larger predators. Their activity levels are influenced by environmental factors, such as temperature and prey availability, showcasing their ability to adjust behaviorally to changing conditions in their habitats.
Distribution
Algeria
Angola
Benin
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Central Af. Rep.
Chad
Congo-Brazzaville
Côte D’ivoire
DR Congo (Kinshasa)
Djibouti
Eritrea
Eswatini
Ethiopia
Gabon
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea
Kenya
Lesotho
Liberia
Malawi
Mali
Morocco
Mozambique
Namibia
Niger
Nigeria
Rwanda
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Somalia
South Africa
Sudan
Tanzania
Togo
Tunisia
Uganda
Zambia
ZimbabweDid you know?
- Serval is among the top and most successful hunters on the African continent, with a 50% kill rate.
- They are known by the nickname “giraffe cats” because of their exceptionally long neck and legs. Their lengthy forelimbs are used to reach inside burrows or snare fish out of the water.
- Servals share common ancestry with the African Golden Cat, diverging approximately 5.4 million years ago.
- Serval is widely recorded from most major African national parks and reserves, except for North Africa and the Sahel.
- Servals are specialist rodent hunters who may be advantageous to crop growers throughout rural Africa.
- For the exotic pet trade, the serval is bred with a domestic cat to create the savanna cat, a serval hybrid that is not a good pet.
- Wetland habitat loss and degradation pose the greatest threat to the serval. Wetlands have higher rodent numbers than other habitat types and serve as the core of Serval home ranges.
- Serval has very precise ecological requirements; therefore, it may be restricted to smaller places within its extensive distribution range. It is not found in rainforests or desert-like habitats.
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Terrestrial / Aquatic
Altricial / Precocial
Polygamous / Monogamous
Dimorphic (size) / Monomorphic
Active: Diurnal / Nocturnal
Social behavior: Solitary / Pack / Herd
Diet: Carnivore / Herbivore / Omnivore / Piscivorous / Insectivore
Migratory: Yes / No
Domesticated: Yes / No
Dangerous: Yes / No
