African Serval: Leptailurus serval
In the Wild
Description:
Size:
o 23-36 inches (59 to 92 cm) long
o 17-24 inches (45 to 60 cm) tall at shoulder
Weight: 15-40 pounds (7-18 kg)
Sexual dimorphism: Males are larger than females
Small, slender cat with long legs, a lean body, a short tail and a small head
Have a coat that is tawny with both black lines and spots and a white belly
Habitat and Range:
Native to central and southern Africa, mostly south of the Sahara Desert
Live near thickly planted streams and rivers in savannas and forests
Diet:
Carnivore: Eat small mammals, birds, reptiles, frogs, crabs and large insects
o Small rodents are the most frequent prey item
Hunting technique:
o Wait in the tall grass and use their large ears to listen for approaching prey
o Instead of chasing down prey as a cheetah would, servals take a leap into the air
and then force their body weight down onto the prey
o Trap their prey beneath the front paws and deliver a fatal bite to the neck
Are excellent hunters – while other wild cats are successful in just 1 of every 5-6 hunting
attempts, servals make a kill approximately 1 out of every 2 tries
Adaptations:
If needed, can climb a tree to escape from predators
Ultrasonic hearing allows the serval to hear high-pitched communication of rodents
Can jump more than 9 feet (2.7 m) straight up to grab a bird out of the air
Long legs allow servals to reach down into a rodent's burrow to snatch a meal out of a
burrow or tunnel
Long, curved claws assist in hooking fish and frogs from the water
Lifespan:
Median life expectancy of about 13 years
May live up to about 20 years
Ecosystem relationships:
Predators: Leopards, wild dogs, hyenas and humans
Often share their savanna habitat with caracals and may compete with them for prey
Servals are important to their ecosystem because they catch rodents, which carry
diseases and contaminate food supplies
07/28/2013
The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore
African Serval: Leptailurus serval
Reproduction:
Do not have a specific breeding season, but mating occurs more often in the spring
when rodent populations increase
A female serval ready to breed alerts any male in the area with very short and sharp
calls or long yowls
Gestation normally lasts about 2.5 months
Females raise 1-5 (normally 3) kittens without assistance from males
Live in a den made of tall, thick grass or sometimes an abandoned burrow
The mother leaves her kittens while she hunts for food, but returns to stay with them at
night
At about 1 month of age, the mother starts to bring food back to the den for her cubs
She accepts the presence of her female offspring longer than that of males – once the
males can hunt for themselves, usually at about 6 months old, they are no longer
welcome in the den but may be allowed to remain in the mother’s range for a while
longer – female offspring usually stay with their mother until they are about 2 years old
Reach sexual maturity after about 2 years
Activity:
Crepuscular: Are most active at dawn and dusk to avoid the heat of the day, although
they do hunt at night when needed
Unlike many other cat species, servals love to climb, leap and play in water
Even though each male's home range may overlap those of several females, servals live
separately most of the year
Adults scent mark trees and bushes with a spray of urine to mark their territory
In the wild, female servals in overlapping ranges are often related to one another
Other “fun facts”:
The name “serval” is believed to come from the Portuguese word lobo-cerval, meaning
“lynx”
Their extra-long neck and legs give them the nickname "giraffe cat”
Also sometimes called a “bush cat”
Servals were worshipped as gods by the ancient Egyptians who kept them as pets
Have the longest legs and largest ears for its body size of any cat – if we had ears in the
same proportion to our head as servals do, they would be the size of dinner plates
As servals use their large ears to pinpoint the location of prey, they seldom hunt on
extremely windy days
Sometimes “play with” their food if prey are not immediately killed – rats, mice
and birds are tossed in the air while snakes are allowed to scurry away before being
caught again
Conservation Status and Threats:
Listed on the IUCN Red List as Least Concern
CITES Appendix II – hunting is prohibited in many African countries where servals live
07/28/2013
The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore
African Serval: Leptailurus serval
The North African subspecies, Leptailurus serval constantinus
o Listed as endangered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service
o IUCN classifies servals north of the Sahara as regionally Critically Endangered –
 Are fewer than 250 mature individuals
 Subpopulations are smaller than 50 individuals and are completely
isolated from each other and from sub-Saharan African populations
Wild populations are thought to be declining
o Wetland habitat loss and degradation – there are high population densities of
rodents in wetlands compared with other habitat types; wetlands or edges of
wetlands are therefore the preferred habitat of servals
o Agricultural development has reduced habitat for both African servals and their
prey
 Degradation of grasslands through annual burning followed by overgrazing by domestic hoof stock leads to reduced populations of small
mammals
 This may lead servals to hunt livestock more often, particularly chickens
 Though the impact of servals on agriculture is minimal, they are regularly
shot on site by farmers
o Hunting for fur – it takes the skin of many servals to produce one coat
 International legal commercial trade is generally declining, but skins are
still traded in large quantities in some countries, particularly in northern
Africa
 The fur trade in West Africa appears to be primarily for ceremonial or
medicinal purposes – for example, furs are highly valued for traditional
medicine in Nigeria
o Also sometimes hunted for sport in southern Africa
Reintroduction of captive-raised servals has been attempted, but there has been
difficulty introducing them near human developments – studies have used radio
transmitters to show that the most effective releases are at least 10 km from humans at
a site with sufficient prey
At the Zoo
Jamilla was born in 1999 and came to the Maryland Zoo from Zoo Boise in 2003. Although
hand-raised, she was an exhibit animal until becoming an animal ambassador.
What We Can Do
Make sure you know the origin of the products you buy – buying something imported
illegally supports the black market by sustaining demand
o Ex. Rosewood is still being illegally imported from Madagascar despite bans on
logging because people are still buying it
Do your research before buying a pet
07/28/2013
The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore
African Serval: Leptailurus serval
o Some people think it would be fun to own a wild or exotic cat but wild animals,
even those born in zoos, keep their wild instincts for hundreds, even thousands,
of years, so these cats do NOT make good pets
o Special permits are required for trained experts or zoos to own or house servals
Opt for fake fur over real fur when buying coats and other clothing and accessories
o All of our shopping choices can have an impact on the environment and wildlife,
so when available opt for recycled and local products
o Research responsible companies that do not use animal based products or
testing
Make environmentally responsible lifestyle decisions to help conserve habitat –
conserve energy, reduce litter and pollution
References:
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Leptailurus_serval/
http://www.marylandzoo.org/animals-conservation/mammals/serval/
http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/serval
http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/11638/0
http://www.planetwildlife.com/information/species/serval?section=culture
07/28/2013
The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore