Servals are African wild cats and are also known as
Leptailurus Serval. Its most distinctive features are the tall
oval ears which are placed very closely to each other. It is
mostly found in African countries such as Ethiopia, Benin,
Tanzania, Mozambique, Congo, Angola, Togo, Uganda, Transvaal,
and Algeria. Spread all over Africa, they are found where water
can be found.
The average length of the body of a serval is about thirty-four
inches and the tail is about sixteen inches long. It can live
from twelve years to twenty years. Its weight can range from
twenty to forty four pounds. It tawny fur has a pattern of round
black spots. Some even have freckled spots. Servals have melanin
in their skin which sometimes gives them the appearance of a
black panther. A kind of serval is known to exist with white fur
and grayish silver spots.
Servals which have high melanin content can be found in the
mountains, while the rest belong to the savannas, bush lands,
marshlands, grasslands, reed beds marsh, bamboo forests and open
woodlands. It is not habituated to live in desert, semi-desert
areas and its habitat should have a water body. Since its
environment should have water and trees around, it also has the
ability to swim and climb trees, when required. The servals have
the longest legs among the cats, when the body and leg ratio is
considered. Apart from having long ears, it also has long neck
which helps it to see its prey when it is hiding in tall grass.
The ears are so sharp that they can track rodents which are
moving underground. It increases concentration while listening,
by closing its eyes.
Before pursing its prey, it pauses for few minutes and listens
to the animal’s movements. Serval relies on its hearing rather
than its visuals. It has a characteristic hop which makes it
easier to catch birds. They have terrific leaping and pouncing
abilities. They can jump as high as ten feet and can make a
precise jump from even as far as three to twelve feet. They can
even dig burrows and look for rodents deep in the ground. With
all these qualities, serval is a very good hunter. It feeds
mainly on rodents apart from eating bird, fish, frog, insects,
hare, reptiles and hyraxes. Servals eat their catch really fast
and sometimes when the prey is big, it throws out the food as it
gets stuck in its throat and chokes it. They hunt at mid-night
and early morning.
When kept in captivity, everyday they need to be served with one
to three pounds of raw meat with bones. Care should be taken
that the meat shouldn’t be cooked. Apart from that, they can
also be given premium natural cat food, beef, turkey, chicken,
canned tuna, and canned salmon. No exotic pets can be trained to
use the letterbox properly, but this habit can vary from animal
to animal. Owners who don’t have time to devote to train a
serval, shouldn’t go for one. Even after thorough training, the
pet does develop undesirable bathroom habits. Pet servals have a
fascination for water, so its better if the toilet lid is closed
at all times.
The pregnancy period of female serval lasts for nearly three
months. At a time, the female can give birth to two or three
cubs. Very rarely, even five cubs are born at a time. They are
brought up behind shrubs or even in abandoned burrows.
Because of the human interference with the natural habitats of
servals, they are decreasing in number. They are diminishing in
numbers because of large scale hunting for their fur. That is
the reason why they have been given the endangered species tag
and are being protected in many nations. They are classified as
exotic pets which are not threatened with extinction but will
be, if their hunting is brought to an end. They have now become
rare in the Sahara and almost extinct in the South African Cape.