Leptailurus serval
serval

Servals are found throughout the savannas of Africa. They are not found in arid desert regions, tropical rainforests, or along the western tip of South Africa.

Servals can be found in dry, open grasslands, wooded savannas, grassy uplands, and moist areas around rainforests. They do not occur in rainforests. Servals are almost always found near water.

Serval have the largest ears and longest legs, relative to their body size, in the cat family. Body length ranges from 670 to 1000 mm, tail length from 240 to 450 mm, and shoulder height from 540 to 620 mm. Males are generally larger than females. Their remarkably long legs can constitute much of their height and are used to see over savanna grasses, aiding in prey detection. The auditory bullae and pinnae of the ear are enlarged to aid in the detection of prey that emit high frequency sounds. The ears are rounded with white stripes on the back and they rest on a small, elongate head. The pelage is reddish-brown with dark spots that may merge into stripes along the back. There is regional variation in coloration. Serval that inhabit wetter areas have finer markings and those that inhabit drier areas have fur with large, bold spots.

Servals are solitary animals that primarily communicate through urine spraying and rubbing saliva on objects. They also communicate using vocalizations such as shrill cries, growls and purring.

Confrontation between servals is usually avoided, but can occur when home ranges overlap. Servals will take cover when surprised. When threatened directly they will raise their tail and flee using sudden direction changes and leaping.

Servals are primarily crepuscular. Their peak activity times are between ten and eleven at night and four and five in the morning.

Hunting and bringing food back to the young takes up a majority of the day for a female serval. While she is gone the kittens are hidden in a den built with thick, tall grass. Mothers will hunt for male kittens only until they are able to hunt on their own. Mothers will tolerate female kittens for longer periods. This may be why more females than males in overlapping home ranges are closely related.

Servals are carnivorous, their diet consists primarily of hares, mole rats, ground squirrels, vlei rats, quails, gueleas, frogs, and flamingos. They catch their prey by leaping and landing on their victims with both front paws. They also have the ability to reach into deep holes or enter the water to catch prey. If a serval misses its prey after the first try it will generally move on. When a prey is caught it will generally be played with before it is eaten. Servals are very efficient hunters due to their ability to leap up to ten feet into the air and due to their ability to swerve and change direction at full speed. They are so efficient that on average 40% of pounces during the day and 59% of pounces during the night are successful.

Servals have been known to prey upon domestic fowl.

Servals are hunted for their coat, as a result they have been exterminated from the areas of their range with higher human populations.

As many as fourteen serval subspecies exist. The northern subspecies is listed as endangered while all others are listed as threatened. Servals are protected by international law.