There are 37 species of cat on earth, one is the humble house moggy, and the other 36 are all wild beasts of the wilderness. The serval has to be one of the jazziest of this clan.
The serval (Leptailurus serval) is classed as a medium sized wild cat and chills out in North Africa. Servals used to be found in Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and the Cape provinces of South Africa, but they now seem to have disappeared entirely from Algeria and the Cape provinces and the only individuals found in Tunisia are thanks to reintroduction programmes.
Servals are about 60 cm to the shoulder and weigh in at around 7 to 12 kg; so they’re substantially smaller than you but I don’t reckon you would fare well in a scrap. Serval’s heads are comparatively small but with distinctive large ears, and their legs are comparatively long giving it a kind of alien look. In fact, their legs are the longest of any cat species, mostly thanks to elongated metatarsals. Because of the odd mishmash of characteristics the serval is sometimes referred to as the “cat of spare parts”.
These long legs allow it to achieve 50 mph at top whack, leap up to 10 ft into the air and jump up to 12 ft horizontally. Their toes are also longer than normal giving them the edge when digging out concealed prey.
Most often servals have the markings seen in the pictures above, but whiter individuals and pure black, melanistic servals have also been found. As you can see they look 100% awesome:
The serval is a night hunter, it roams semi-arrid planes eating anything of appropriate size that it can catch. It’s designed for rodent hunting but it’s not fussy when it comes to snack time. They’ve been seen, on rare occasions, taking things as big as deer, gazelle and springbok too. When devouring avian prey it throws the bird into the air whilst shaking its head vigorously to effectively pluck its dinner.
The serval is an efficient killer, catching prey about in about 50% of its attempts, compared to an average of 38% for leopards, 30% for lions and just 10% for the domestic moggy. These cats are known to be incredibly intelligent and excellent at outwitting predators and prey. Here’s an impressive leaping demo:
The serval isn’t considered “threatened” yet, and in some areas, thanks to reintroduction programmes it may even be on the increase. Its incredible coat makes it a prize for poachers and, once again, its pelts are used by some African tribes as “medicine”. Only time will tell if this legendary cat will survive.
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