What’s a Serval? Africa’s Fascinating Leaping Feline

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If you’ve never heard of a serval, you’re not alone. Servals are one of Africa’s lesser-known wild cats. They’ve got a striking appearance – much like someone took a little cheetah and gave it extra-long legs, and have exceptional leaping abilities. Imagine a medium-sized cat that jumps higher than your living room ceiling! Amazing, right? Let’s explore some fascinating facts about these leaping felines.

Serval's Striking Appearance: Long Legs, Spots, and a Small Head

A serval has a slender body, very long legs, a small head, and huge ears. Servals have the longest legs relative to the body size of any cat in the world. Those long limbs and unusually long necks have even earned it the nickname “giraffe cat” because it can peek over the tall grass like a giraffe.

The serval’s coat is another eye-catcher. It has a golden-yellow fur patterned with bold black spots and some streaks or stripes along the back and sides. In some places, the spots are so close together that they form a striped effect. This mix of spots and faint stripes often gets servals mistaken for young leopards or cheetahs at first glance.

Each serval’s coat pattern is unique and works as perfect camouflage among the dappled light and high grass of its habitat. Even the backs of their ears have markings – there are white spots on the black ears, which help serval kittens keep track of their mother in tall vegetation.

The extra-long legs and big ears might look funny, but they serve a purpose. These traits are key to the serval’s success as a hunter, as we’ll see next.

Serval's Incredible Leaping Ability and Hunting Skills

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Servals are famous for their incredible leaping ability – they are truly the high jump champions of the cat world! This Savannah cat can jump about 9 feet (2.7 m) straight up from a standing position. These vertical and horizontal powerful jumps help the serval catch birds and other prey that many other predators would miss. A serval can also leap forward over 13 feet in a single bound to land on a fleeing animal. Its long, muscular legs act like springs, launching it with impressive force.

How does the serval know where to jump? The secret is in those huge ears. Servals have the largest ears of any cat relative to their head size. And each ear has over 20 muscles allowing it to rotate up to 180 degrees. They use their ears like satellite dishes, swiveling to pick up the tiniest sounds in the grass.

A serval’s sense of hearing is so sharp that it can detect the high-pitched squeaks of rodents underground. Often, a serval will sit or crouch quietly in the tall grass, listening intently. Once it pinpoints a moving mouse or other prey, it will pounce with a sudden giant leap and land right on target.

Did you know? Servals are so good at hunting that they succeed about 50% of the time, which makes them one of the most successful hunters of all wild cats. By comparison, much larger cats like lions might only succeed less than 30% of the time in their hunts. Interestingly, unlike many other cats, servals don’t scavenge or eat leftovers from other predators. They prefer fresh prey that they catch themselves.

Natural Habitat and Behavior

Servals are native to Africa and are mostly found in sub-Saharan Africa in countries across West, Central, East, and Southern Africa. They thrive in habitats that offer plenty of cover and water. The ideal serval home is a savanna or grassland with tall grasses and maybe some wetlands or marshy areas nearby.

They also love tropical regions with reed beds, marshes, and rivers because these spots are full of frogs and rodents and provide good hiding places. The tall grass is their ally – it lets them stalk prey invisibly and also hide from larger predators. In fact, the serval’s spotted coat blends perfectly with the streaks of light and shadows in tall grass and reeds.

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Habitat loss is a real threat to servals – especially the loss of wetlands which host many of their prey. Thankfully, servals are quite adaptable and can sometimes adjust to new areas if their old habitat is disturbed. Still, they do best in protected natural areas where the ecosystem is intact.

In terms of daily life, servals are mostly solitary animals. They are not pack animals and don’t live in big groups. A male serval roams a territory that might overlap with those of a few females, but they generally live alone and only seek each other out to mate.

There is no strict breeding season for servals – they can mate any time of year when conditions are good. After a roughly 2 to 2.5 month gestation, the female gives birth to a small litter of 1 to 3 kittens in a hidden den (often a clump of tall grass or an old burrow). The kittens are born with their eyes closed and totally dependent on their mother. Mom will move them from place to place to keep them safe from predators. She raises the kittens alone – the father doesn’t help.

Young servals grow quickly; by about 6 months old they can hunt for themselves, and the mother will start nudging them to become independent (especially the young males). Female offspring might stay with the mother longer, sometimes close to a year or more, but eventually they all go off on their own. In the wild, a serval lifespan is around 10 years, but in captivity, it can be up to 20.

Servals are crepuscular, meaning they are most active at dawn and dusk. This helps them avoid the midday heat of the African sun. They will also hunt at night if needed. During the hottest part of the day, a serval often rests in the shade or lounges in tall vegetation.

Interestingly, servals don’t mind water – they are known to play in water and will even sit in shallow water to cool off or hide. Their fur is somewhat water-repellent, so they can shake off and dry quickly. This is quite different from many other cat species that avoid getting wet.

Even though servals are not classified as an endangered species globally (most populations are doing okay), they still face plenty of challenges. Humans are the main threat, through habitat destruction and hunting. In some areas, servals have been hunted for their beautiful fur or persecuted by farmers (since a serval might snag a chicken if given the chance). The illegal exotic pet trade has also become a growing concern.

Why Servals Should Not Be Pets

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It might be tempting to think, “Wow, a serval is so beautiful and cat-like. Wouldn’t it be cool to have one as a pet?” In truth, serval cats can be dangerous and are not suited to life as pets. Remember, a serval is a wild animal through and through – even if it is born in captivity. Here are a few reasons why servals should not be pets:

The bottom line is, servals are wild animals and are best left in the wild. No matter how fascinating or beautiful they are, they belong in their natural habitat, not in our homes.

The Rising Interest in Exotic Pets (and Why Servals Belong in the Wild)

In recent years, there’s been a rising public interest in exotic pets like servals. Social media and online videos show people with cute wild cat cubs, or walking their serval on a leash, which can spark curiosity.

It’s important to look beyond the glamour and understand the reality. The exotic pet trade often harms the animals that are caught up in it. Many servals in the pet trade are taken from the wild or bred in poor, inhumane conditions. This demand also encourages the poaching, smuggling, and breeding of wild animals, which puts enormous pressure on wild populations.

When someone buys a serval kitten, they may not realize how quickly it will grow and how wild it will remain. As we discussed, owners cannot meet the needs of a serval long-term. Sadly, what often happens is the serval becomes unmanageable or aggressive, and the owner gives it up. Many times, these animals end up being abandoned, sold or killed.

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Accredited sanctuaries like Lions Tigers & Bears and others step in to care for these animals for the rest of their lives. These sanctuaries are doing wonderful work, but they have limited space and resources. Preventing the problem in the first place – through education we can discourage exotic pet ownership – is crucial to avoid unnecessary animal suffering.

Moreover, taking wild animals like servals out of their ecosystem has a broader impact. Servals play a role in controlling rodent populations in their environment. If too many are removed (or if local populations decline due to habitat loss or poaching), it can upset the natural balance. Every wild species has its place in the natural history of their ecosystem.

The public’s interest in servals can be positive if it leads to more support for conservation, and a general appreciation for wildlife. But the way to appreciate a serval is to see it in the wild (if you’re lucky to go on a safari) or in a reputable wildlife sanctuary or zoo – not to keep it as a pet.

Remember: Servals are fascinating, beautiful, and important wild cats, but their home is the African savanna, not a living room. If you’re curious about servals like our resident Denali, please continue to learn and perhaps even become an advocate for rescue and conservation efforts that protect their habitat. You can also simply share these fascinating facts with others who find wild cats interesting!

Fierce Felines of the Jungle: Exploring the World of Wild Cats

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Most of us are fascinated by wild cats. Maybe it’s because they look a bit like our cats at home— the piercing eyes, smooth fur, the way they move, etc. But there’s also this wild beauty about them on a whole other level. And their sheer body size, they’re majestic and powerful, like they’re made to rule whatever land they walk on. Let’s take a closer look at these exotic species, their unique traits, and the vital roles they play in the wild.

Jaguars

Jaguars are among the most iconic exotic cats, primarily found in the dense jungles of Central and South America. They’re beautifully built with strong, muscular bodies and distinctive coats marked with rosettes that help them blend into the dappled sunlight of their habitats.

Jaguar Habitat and Behavior

Jaguars prefer habitats near water, like rainforests, swamps, and rivers. They’re powerful swimmers and can often be seen lounging by the water, waiting to catch fish or caimans. They’re known for their stealth, as they stalk their prey before making a swift, powerful leap to capture it.

Fun Facts About Jaguars

  1. Strongest bite: Jaguars have the strongest bite of all big cats. They can crush even the strong shells of turtles with ease.
  2. Swimming skills: They’re natural swimmers and often hunt in water, a rarity among big cats.
  3. Solitary animals: Jaguars are mostly solitary, coming together only during mating season.
  4. Roar: Their roar can be heard up to two miles away, a deep sound that resonates through the jungle.

Tigers

Tigers are the largest wild cat species and are native to regions across South and Southeast Asia, including India and Sri Lanka. They have also existed historically in parts of western and central Asia and the Middle East. Their striking orange coat with black stripes makes them one of the most recognizable big cats in the world.

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Tiger Habitat and Behavior

Tigers thrive in various environments, from tropical rainforests to grasslands. They’re solitary hunters, relying on their stealth and strength to take down large prey like deer and wild boar. Tigers are also known to swim well, often cooling off in the water during hot summer days.

Fun Facts About Tigers

  1. Unique stripes: Each tiger’s stripe pattern is unique, like a human fingerprint!
  2. Territorial: Tigers are highly territorial, with males marking large areas to ward off any potential rivals.
  3. Hunting technique: They often hunt at night, using their excellent vision to stalk prey.
  4. Vocalization: Tigers can communicate through sounds, including roars, growls, and chuffs, which help them establish territory and attract mates.

Lions

Lions are the only genuinely social big cats, living in groups called pride. They’re typically found in the savannas, grasslands, and deserts of Africa, where their strong social bonds and teamwork help them thrive.

Lion Habitat and Behavior

A pride usually consists of several related females, their cubs, and a few males. The females do most of the hunting, often working together to take down large herbivores like wildebeests or zebras. Males protect their pride and territory, ensuring rival males don’t infringe.

Fun Facts About Lions

  1. Impressive mane: A lion’s mane can indicate its health and age; darker manes often suggest stronger genetics!
  2. Loud roar: A lion’s roar can be heard from up to five miles away, making it one of the loudest calls in the animal kingdom!
  3. Sleepy cats: Lions are the laziest of the big cats, sleeping up to 20 hours a day to conserve energy for hunting.
  4. Social structure: Unlike other big cats, lions live in pride, with strong social bonds that help them cooperate in raising cubs.

Servals

Servals are smaller than the big cats we often think of, but they’re full of personality and agility. Found in sub-Saharan Africa, these wild cats have long legs and large ears, which make them look unique!

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Servals Habitat and Behavior

Servals prefer grasslands and wetlands, where they can use their incredible hearing to locate prey. They’re known for their remarkable jumping ability, which allows them to catch birds mid-flight or pounce on rodents hiding in the tall grass.

Fun Facts About Servals

  1. High jumpers: servals can leap up to ten feet in the air to catch birds, making them one of the most agile hunters.
  2. Excellent hearing: their large ears help them locate prey even when hidden beneath the grass.
  3. Purring: servals can purr like domestic cats, but they also have a variety of vocalizations, including growls and chirps!
  4. Catching prey: they can catch multiple birds in one jump, showcasing their impressive hunting skills.

Leopards

Leopards are one of the most adaptable wild cats, found in various habitats across Africa and parts of Asia. Their beautiful golden coats with black rosettes make them a favorite among wildlife enthusiasts.

Leopard Habitat and Behavior

Leopards are highly versatile and thrive in savannas, forests, and even mountains. They’re known for their remarkable climbing ability, often dragging prey into trees to protect it from scavengers.

Fun Facts About Leopards

  1. Stealthy hunters: leopards are masters of stealth and can sneak up on their prey without making a sound.
  2. Diverse diet: they have a varied diet, eating everything from small rodents to large antelope, depending on what’s available.
  3. Solitary lifestyle: like jaguars, leopards come together only to mate or care for cubs.
  4. Camouflage: their rosette-patterned fur provides excellent camouflage in their natural habitats, making them formidable predators.

The Ecological Role of Wild Cats

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Wild cats are like the guardians of their ecosystems. They have the balance of nature intact. As top predators, they help control other animal populations, preventing overgrazing and allowing vegetation to thrive. For example, when big cats like tigers and lions hunt herbivores, they ensure that these animals don’t overpopulate and deplete the plants in their habitats.

Wild cats also help maintain the health of prey species by naturally selecting weaker individuals, which strengthens the overall population. This process, known as “natural selection,” ensures that only the fittest animals survive to reproduce.

When wild cats thrive, the entire ecosystem flourishes. Their presence is a sign of a healthy environment, and when they decline due to threats like habitat loss or poaching, it can trigger a chain reaction that disrupts the entire food chain. So, protecting wild cats isn’t just about saving them - it’s crucial for the health of the ecosystems they inhabit.

Unfortunately, wild cats face numerous threats today, primarily from habitat loss and illegal poaching. The illicit wildlife trade puts immense pressure on their populations, leading many species, like the jaguar and tiger, to be placed on the Red List of Threatened Species.

How Lions Tigers and Bears Help

Lions Tigers and Bears is an accredited sanctuary and rescue committed to rescuing exotic animals from difficult circumstances. The sanctuary provides a home for both domestic and wild animals, where they can live free from harm and neglect.

The animals at Lions Tigers & Bears each have a unique story of resilience, and triumph. From Rocky the grizzly bear, who was exploited in the entertainment industry, to Eddie the jaguar, who was cruelly used for cub-petting, each animal has endured hardships that no animal should face. At Lions Tigers & Bears, we are unwaveringly committed to rescuing animals who suffer at the hands of the wildlife trafficking industry. Our mission is to provide them with a safe, loving lifetime home where they can heal, thrive, and live out their days in peace.

Lions Tigers & Bears also serves as a temporary home for rescued animals whose legal cases are under investigation. LTB takes care of them fully, taking on all medical, feed, and habitat expenses, until decisions are finalized about their future. But that wouldn’t be possible without the support of people like you. That's why Lions, Tigers & Bears rely on your donations. Your generosity helps ensure all the rescued felines receive the care and protection they need to live fulfilling lives. Together, we can make a difference.

Serving the Servals: Unravel the Mysteries of a Wild Cat Species

Servals are medium-sized wild cats native to Sub-Saharan Africa. They are known for their distinctive appearance, which features a slender body, long legs, and a relatively small head with large, rounded ears. These wild cat species have golden-yellow coats with black spots and stripes that often get them mistaken for young cheetahs, tigers or even leopards. Servals also have white spots behind their ears to help cubs keep track of their mothers.

Quick Facts about Servals

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Spotted Camouflage

The serval's tawny coat, adorned with black spots and stripes, provides effective camouflage within the dappled light of their savanna and wetland habitats. Cats like tigers have stripes, while cheetahs have spots. But servals have both, sort of. 

Although they don’t actually have stripes, some of the spots are close enough to look like stripes. This makes it hard to notice them in high grass. Interestingly, servals that live near woodlands have smaller spots that allow them to hide better in the tree shade. 

Long Limps and Powerful Leaps

Servals have the longest legs relative to body size among all felines. These propel them effortlessly through tall grass for a view of their surroundings. The combination of long legs and powerful leg muscles allows them to launch into impressive vertical leaps, reaching heights of 9 feet (almost 3 meters) to snatch airborne prey like birds.

Huge Ears

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Servals can easily pass as the weirdest cats ever. Along with the extra-long legs, they have huge ears and a long neck. Surprisingly, these bizarre body parts make them one of the most successful hunters in the wild cat kingdom. They boast a 50% success rate, which is about 20% better than lions hunting with their pride.

These wild cats are not picky eaters – but they do not scavenge like most wild cats. That’s probably because they are great hunters – they can catch up to 10 frogs an hour when hinting in water. A single serval can kill and eat up to 4000 rodents and 250 snakes in one year. A typical serval diet consists of small mammals weighing 200g (7 ounces) or less. So, in addition to the above prey, they feed on rabbits, birds, lizards, crabs, and insects. 

Social Behavior

Servals are generally solitary creatures, leading independent lives outside of breeding season. However, these loners occasionally form temporary partnerships for cooperative hunting or defense against larger predators. During mating season, males and females come together briefly. The only long-lasting bond is between the mother and her cubs – and this often lasts for around a year before the grown cubs move out. 

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Native Serval Habitat

Servals are native to various regions in Southern Africa. Their natural habitats predominantly include savannas, which are characterized by a mix of grasslands and open spaces. The tall grasses provide cover for stalking prey, and the open areas allow them to use their exceptional leaping abilities for hunting. 

These wild cats also inhabit areas with reed beds, where the dense vegetation provides additional cover and opportunities for ambushing prey. Some servals can be found in wetland areas, which offer a combination of water sources and abundant prey.

Can a Serval Kill a Human?

Servals are not known to be aggressive towards people. But they are wild animals with specific needs and behaviors that make them unsuitable as household pets. They have strong hunting instincts, are highly territorial, and engage in behaviors like scent marking. The cats also have specialized dietary and exercise needs that are difficult to fulfill in a typical household. So when you confine them within a home, they might end up experiencing stress, behavioral issues, and poor overall welfare.

Even with good intentions and resources, keeping a serval as a pet is not in the best interest of the animal, or the owner. Besides, legal restrictions pose significant barriers to owning servals in many U.S. states. Numerous states outright prohibit the ownership of servals and other exotic animals, while others necessitate special licenses or permits.

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Are Servals Endangered?

Serval populations have declined over the years. However, they aren’t considered endangered save for the Leptailurus serval constantinus subspecies. But if natural history is anything to go by, the status of any wildlife species can change over time due to various factors such as habitat loss, poaching, and other human-induced threats.

The illegal activities of the exotic pet trade and poaching present severe and immediate threats to the well-being and survival of servals and various other wild animals. These practices are primarily driven by the demand for exotic pets, as well as the commercial value of animal fur, skin, and bones.

Sadly, the consequences of poaching extend beyond individual animals. It can result in population declines, reduced genetic diversity, and disruptions to ecological balance. Loss of key species like servals can have cascading effects on ecosystems, affecting prey-predator relationships and the overall health of an ecosystem as a whole.

Beyond poaching, habitat loss due to human activity also significantly contributes to the challenges wild animals encounter in the wild. Climate change is an additional factor that can impact serval habitats. Altered weather patterns, changes in vegetation, and shifts in prey distribution influence the availability of resources for the animals in the wild.

Denali’s Story

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Denali is a 13-year-old serval at LTB. He was rescued from the Spirit of the Hills Sanctuary in South Dakota in 2016 following the closure of the sanctuary. But Denali’s journey didn’t start here. A military service member purchased him from a man who claimed to have acquired it from a zoo. However, by the time he was one, Denali had doubled in size compared to a domestic cat and outgrew the confines of the owner’s family's home.

So, Denali was taken to the Spirits of the Hills Sanctuary. But following a tiger mauling incident, the sanctuary was shut down, leaving Denali and others in need of a new home. Lions Tigers & Bears stepped in and took Denali.

This story underscores the issue of keeping exotic animals as pets. In all cases, it never works out for the animals, or owners. When the private owner is no longer able to care for the animal, they leave it up to the sanctuaries to care for it for the rest of its life. Sadly, the trade is booming, and the truth is more animals need homes than there are sanctuaries that can care for them.

Some of these animals end up in zoos, with breeders, or, in the worst cases, in canned hunting ranches or euthanasia. And even those who are lucky enough to find homes in sanctuaries still struggle with adjusting to new environments.Through their rescue and care efforts, Lions Tigers and Bears contributes not only to the individual lives of animals like Denali but also to a broader mission – shedding light on the struggles faced by wild animals kept in private ownership and the indispensable role that sanctuaries play in offering them a place to call home. Please consider donating, or becoming a member to help us provide a safe, caring and humane sanctuary for these beautiful creatures.