Leptailurus serval (Schreber, 1776)

Common Name and Body Type

Leptailurus serval, commonly known as the serval, is a slender, medium-sized wild cat.

Shoulder Height and Body Length

It measures 54 to 62 cm (21–24 in) tall at the shoulder, with a typical head-and-body length between 67 and 100 cm (26–39 in).

Weight and Sexual Dimorphism

Males are sturdier than females; servals weigh 8 to 18 kg (18–40 lb), with females generally being lighter.

Key Distinctive Features

Its most notable features include a small head, large ears, a spotted and striped coat, long legs, and a black-tipped tail around 30 cm (12 in) long.

Leg Structure

Relative to its body size, the serval has the longest legs of any cat, a trait caused largely by greatly elongated metatarsal bones in the feet. Its toes are also elongated and unusually mobile.

Base Coat and Markings

The serval's base coat ranges from golden-yellow to buff, and is heavily marked with black spots and stripes that vary greatly in size across individuals.

Facial Features

Key facial features include a whitish chin, spots and streaks on the cheeks and forehead, brownish or greenish eyes, and white whiskers on the snout and near the ears.

Ear Markings

The backs of the ears are black with a white horizontal band across the middle.

Dorsal Markings

Three to four black stripes run from the back of the head onto the shoulders, then break into rows of spots.

Underbelly Fur

The white underbelly has dense, fluffy basal fur, with soft protective guard hairs 5–10 cm (2.0–3.9 in) long.

Guard Hair Length Variation

Guard hairs reach up to 3 cm (1.2 in) long on the neck, back and flanks, and only 1 cm (0.39 in) long on the face.

Sensory Abilities

The serval has a good sense of smell, hearing and vision.

Comparison to Caracal

It resembles the sympatric caracal, but has a narrower spoor, a rounder skull, and lacks the caracal's prominent ear tufts.

Prey Location Adaptation

Its closely set ears can rotate up to 180 degrees independently of one another, which helps it locate prey efficiently.

Captive Color Variants

Both leucistic and melanistic servals have been observed in captivity.

Wild Melanistic Records

The melanistic variant has also been seen in the wild, with most wild melanistic servals recorded in Kenya.

North African Distribution

In North Africa, the serval is only known to exist in Morocco, and has been reintroduced in Tunisia, but is thought to be extinct in Algeria.

North African Habitat

In this region, it lives in semi-arid areas and cork oak forests near the Mediterranean Sea, and avoids rainforests and arid areas.

Sahel and Southern Africa Range

It occurs across the Sahel, and is widespread across Southern Africa.

High Altitude Habitat

It can inhabit grasslands, moorlands, and bamboo thickets at high altitudes up to 3,800 m (12,500 ft) on Mount Kilimanjaro.

Preferred Habitat Features

It prefers areas close to water bodies such as wetlands and savannas, that offer cover like reeds and tall grasses.

East Sudanian Savanna Record

In the East Sudanian Savanna, it was recorded in the transboundary Dinder–Alatash protected area complex during surveys conducted between 2015 and 2018.

Zambia Population Density

In Zambia's Luambe National Park, the population density was recorded as 0.1/km2 (0.26/sq mi) in 2011.

South African Distribution

In South Africa, the serval has been recorded in Free State, eastern Northern Cape, and southern North West.

Namibian Distribution

In Namibia, it is present in Khaudum and Mudumu National Parks.

Activity Patterns

The serval is active both during the day and at night, with activity peaks typically in early morning, around twilight, and at midnight.

Weather-related Activity Adjustments

It may be active for longer periods on cool or rainy days, and rests or grooms itself in the shade of bushes and grasses during hot midday hours.

Alertness Behavior

Servals stay cautious of their surroundings, though they may be less alert when no large carnivores or prey animals are nearby.

Travel and Hunting Trails

Servals can walk up to 2 to 4 km (1.2 to 2.5 mi) every night, and often use established trails to reach specific hunting areas.

Social Structure Overview

The serval is a solitary animal, with little social interaction outside the mating season, when opposite-sex pairs may stay together.

Mother-cub Bond

The only long-term social bond is between a mother and her cubs; cubs leave their mother when they are one year old.

Home Range Core Regions

Both males and females establish home ranges, and are most active only within specific core regions inside these ranges.

Home Range Size Factors

Home ranges vary in size from 10 to 32 km2 (3.9 to 12.4 sq mi); prey density, cover availability, and human interference are thought to be key factors affecting their size.

Range Overlap Dynamics

Home ranges may overlap extensively, but the occupying servals interact very little.

Aggression Avoidance

Aggressive encounters are rare, as servals generally avoid one another rather than fighting to defend ranges.

Ritualized Territory Displays

When two adult servals clash over territory, they typically engage in a ritualistic display where one places a paw on the other's chest while observing the rival closely; this interaction rarely escalates to a fight.

Agonistic Behavior Traits

Agonistic behavior includes vertical head movement, unlike the horizontal head movement seen in other cats, along with raising the hair and tail, displaying the teeth and the white band on the ears, and yowling.

Scent Marking Behaviors

Servals mark their ranges and preferred paths by spraying urine on nearby vegetation, dropping scats along routes, and rubbing their mouths on grasses or the ground while releasing saliva.

Sedentary Dispersal Tendency

Servals tend to be sedentary, and only shift a few kilometers away even when they leave their original range.

Natural Predators

The serval is vulnerable to hyenas and African wild dogs.

Predator Escape Responses

It will seek cover to escape a predator's view, and if the predator is very close, it immediately flees in long leaps, changing direction frequently with its tail raised.

Climbing Ability

The serval is an efficient, though not frequent, climber; one individual was recorded climbing a tree to a height of over 9 m (30 ft) to escape dogs.

Vocalizations

Like many cats, the serval can purr; it also produces a high-pitched chirp, and can hiss, cackle, growl, grunt, and meow.

Sexual Maturity Age

Both male and female servals reach sexual maturity between one and two years old.

Oestrus Cycle

Oestrus in females lasts one to four days, and typically occurs once or twice a year; it can occur three or four times a year if a female loses her litter.

Oestrus Scent Marking Increase

Observations of captive servals show that when a female enters oestrus, the rate of urine-marking increases for both the female and nearby males.

Oestrus Female Behavior

In his 1997 book East African Mammals, zoologist Jonathan Kingdon documented the behavior of an oestrus female serval: he noted she would roam restlessly, spray urine frequently while holding her vibrating tail vertically, rub her head near the marking site, salivate continuously, make sharp, short miaows audible from a distance, and rub her mouth and cheeks against the face of an approaching male.

Geographic Mating Timing

Mating timing varies by geography; birth peaks occur in winter in Botswana, and toward the end of the dry season in the Ngorongoro Crater.

Breeding Season Correlation

A common trend across the serval's range is that births happen before the breeding season of murid rodents.

Gestation and Litter Size

Gestation lasts two to three months, after which a litter of one to four kittens is born.

Birthing Site Preferences

Births happen in secluded locations, such as dense vegetation or burrows abandoned by aardvarks and porcupines.

Newborn Characteristics

Newborns are blind, weigh roughly 250 g (9 oz), and have soft, woolly fur that is greyer than adult fur, with unclear markings.

Neonatal Eye Opening

Their eyes open between nine and thirteen days after birth.

Weaning Process

Weaning starts one month after birth; the mother brings small kills to her kittens and calls out to them as she approaches the den.

Maternal Hunting Effort

A mother with young kittens rests significantly less, and spends almost twice as much time and energy hunting as other servals.

Den Relocation Behavior

If disturbed, the mother moves her kittens one by one to a more secure location.

Juvenile Hunting Development

Kittens eventually begin accompanying their mother on hunts. At around six months old, they grow their permanent canines and start hunting on their own.

Juvenile Dispersal and Maturity

They leave their mother at about 12 months of age, and can reach sexual maturity between 12 and 25 months old.

Life Expectancy

The serval has a life expectancy of about 10 years in the wild, and up to 20 years in captivity.