What Is a Serval?

The serval is a medium-sized wild cat native to Africa. With its unusually long legs, slim body, and relatively elongated neck, it can look somewhat like a slender version of a cheetah. These graceful predators inhabit grasslands, wetlands, and wooded environments across central and southern Africa.

Every serval has a distinctive golden-yellow coat marked with dark spots and patterns. On some animals, the markings are packed so closely together that they can look almost striped. This coloration provides effective camouflage, allowing servals to blend into tall grasses and areas of shadow while helping them remain concealed from predators such as hyenas, African wild dogs, and leopards.

Exceptional Hunting Abilities

Servals are highly specialized predators with several physical characteristics that make them remarkably effective hunters. Their exceptionally long legs and large ears give them advantages that distinguish them from many other wild cats.

Their tall stature enables them to see above dense savanna vegetation, while their powerful hind legs allow them to make impressive vertical leaps. A serval can spring almost nine feet, or approximately three meters, into the air to catch birds and can reach speeds of roughly 50 miles per hour over short distances.

Their oversized ears are another important hunting adaptation. Servals have an extremely sensitive sense of hearing and can pick up subtle sounds made by hidden prey, including rodents moving underneath the ground or vegetation.

Rather than depending on lengthy chases, servals generally hunt through stealth, patience, and sudden bursts of movement. After locating an animal by sound, a serval may remain crouched and motionless before launching itself toward its target. Their prey can include small mammals, reptiles, and birds. Their curved claws are also useful for catching frogs and fish in water or extracting rodents from underground burrows.

Despite being much smaller than predators such as lions and leopards, servals are remarkably successful hunters. They capture prey in approximately half of their hunting attempts, placing them among the most efficient predators in the wild cat family.

Kittens and Savannah Cats

Servals are primarily solitary animals. Adult males and females generally maintain separate territories and use urine and feces to mark the boundaries of their ranges. They usually come together only for reproduction or when a mother is caring for her young.

Servals do not have a strict breeding season, although mating activity tends to increase during spring. Females generally reach sexual maturity at approximately 15 months of age, while males become sexually mature at around 17 months.

When a female is receptive, she signals her condition through more frequent scent marking and brief vocalizations. Once a pair begins mating, the male and female may remain together for the short breeding period, which usually lasts between one and four days.

Following a gestation period of about 75 days, the female finds a secluded, protected place in which to give birth. A normal litter consists of two or three kittens. At birth, the young are blind and entirely reliant on their mother, who provides all of their care.

The kittens generally open their eyes after about a week. By approximately three weeks old, they begin venturing beyond the den and exploring their surroundings. Weaning usually takes place at around five months, when their permanent teeth start to develop. During this stage, the young gradually acquire hunting abilities by accompanying and observing their mother.

Servals have also played a role in the development of hybrid domestic cats. The Savannah cat was produced by crossing servals with domestic cats and has become a popular hybrid companion animal. However, keeping Savannah cats or other serval hybrids is restricted or prohibited in certain areas.

Conservation

At present, serval populations are considered relatively stable. The International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, lists the serval as Least Concern, indicating that the species is not currently considered at immediate risk of extinction.

Nevertheless, servals continue to encounter a number of environmental pressures. The destruction and reduction of wetland habitats is among the most important concerns because wetlands support large numbers of rodents, which make up a major part of the serval's diet. Expanding cities, agricultural activity, and other changes in land use can reduce both suitable habitat and the availability of prey.

The burning of grasslands can create additional problems by destroying populations of the small animals that servals rely upon for food.

Servals occasionally prey on domestic chickens, but they seldom target larger livestock. Their ability to reduce rodent numbers can actually provide benefits to agricultural communities. Even so, servals are sometimes incorrectly viewed as agricultural pests, which can result in unnecessary killing or persecution.

Another threat comes from hunting for their attractive spotted pelts. Serval skins may be marketed as substitutes for leopard or cheetah skins. In parts of southern Africa, serval skins have also traditionally been incorporated into ceremonial clothing. Such practices have included cultural groups such as the Shembe Church in South Africa and the Lozi, also known as the Barotse people, in western Zambia.

To help reduce demand for genuine wild cat skins, conservation groups such as Panthera have created synthetic materials designed to closely imitate the appearance of real animal pelts. These artificial alternatives have subsequently been used during traditional celebrations and ceremonies. In 2019, the Lozi King endorsed the change and prohibited the use of authentic wild cat skins in Lozi cultural ceremonies.