SERVAL CAT
Small head, large ears and the longest legs of any cat relative to its body size.
Active only in core ranges (10 to 32 km)—even when ranges overlap, there is little interaction. They would much rather avoid each other than fight over territory
Solitary carnivore, active both night and day
Eats rodents (80 to 97 %), small birds, frogs, insects, and reptiles
Marks it’s territory with faeces or saliva (rubbing tongue in grass) and urine
Mates once or twice in a year in an area
Gestates for 2 to 3 months
Litter of one to four
Weaned at one month and expected to hunt for six months, leaving their mother at 12 months.
Rarely aggressive but agonistic behaviour is head moving vertically (as opposed to horizontally as most other cats), raising hair and tail, displaying teeth and yowling.
She is sedentary, moving only a few kilometres each day.
Vulnerable to hyenas and wild dogs, whom she avoids by taking cover or making long leaps.
Name derived from a Greek word that means ‘delicate or fine cat’
It is the sole member of it’s genus
The savannah cat is a cross breed of a male serval and a female domestic; it was first cross bred in 1986
Major threat is degradation of habitat (grasslands), and though on the decline, trade in skin and traditional medicine. Pastoralists may kill the serval to protect their cattle even though she does not prey on livestock
Majestic footage by @shaunmousley
