Serval Cats

(Servals available for sale)

Although the Serval is highly specialized for catching rodents, it is an opportunistic predator whose diet in the wild also includes hares, hyraxes, birds, reptiles, insects, fish, and frogs. The Serval has been observed taking larger animals, such as small antelopes, but over 90% of the Serval's prey weighs less than 7 ounces.

Serval boasts long legs (the longest of all cats, relative to body size) and large ears. The long legs and neck allow the Serval to see over tall grasses, while its ears are used to detect rodents, even those burrowing underground. While hunting, the Serval will pause for up to 15 minutes at a time to listen with eyes closed.

The Serval's pounce is a distinctive vertical 'hop', which may be an adaptation for catching flushed birds.The Serval is a highly efficient hunter, catching prey on as many as 50% of attempts, compared to around one of ten for most species of cat. The Serval may also dig into burrows and fish the unlucky inhabitants out.

The gestation period for a female Serval is 66-77 days, almost three months. The litter consists of two or three young (called kittens), sometimes as few as one or as many as five. They are raised in sheltered locations like abandoned aardvark burrows. If such an ideal location is not available, a place behind a shrub may be sufficient. The Serval is sometimes preyed upon by the Leopard and other large cats. More dangerous for this cat are humans. The Serval was extensively hunted for its fur. It is still common in West and East Africa, but it is extinct in the South African Cape Province and very rare north of the Sahara.

The Serval has been bred with the domestic cat to create a hybrid breed of domestic cat called the Savannah.