Dave Taylor's African Safari: Trophic Level III: Omnivores and Small Carnivores - Serval

Trophic Level III: Omnivores and Small Carnivores
Serval
Page 46

Felis serval

Length: 67-100 cm (27-40’)

Tail: 24-35 cm (14-16’)

Weight: 8.7-19 kg (10-42 lb.)

Status: Not endangered but it is disappearing in areas where human habitation is increasing.

Habitat: Servals are found throughout Africa's savannas, wooded grasslands or plains. As long as there is enough grass to support a population of rodents, its main prey, servals do well.

Food: Although their preferred food is rodents such as the grass rat, servals do eat a wide variety of other animals. Included are hares, newborn antelope, ground squirrels, a variety of birds, reptiles and insects. It will also wade for frogs and fish. This cat will also eat fruits from time to time.

Servals pounce on their prey, leaping high in the air and then pinning the victim under their paws. They are active when their main prey species are active. In the Serengeti-Mara, servals are most often seen in the early morning and late evening. Elongated front legs are used to reach into cavities and tree holes to grab nestlings. In Ngorongoro Crater, where servals have been studied, it was found that they are successful hunters 40% of the time during the day and almost 60% of the time at night. Servals normally travel about 2 kilometers (a little over a mile) a night while hunting.

Social System: Adult servals maintain an exclusive core territory that they, alone, use. Surrounding this core area is their much larger home range which they share with other servals. A male's home range is larger than a female's and, as in caracals, leopards and cheetahs, it overlaps the ranges of several females. The size of the range varies from 2 to 30 square kilometers (.7-11.5 square miles). Both sexes mark their home range with urine squirts. Females in adjacent ranges may be related. Female offspring are tolerated by both the male and other adult females. Male offspring are evicted by both sexes.

Behavior: Generally a solitary cat, females will hunt and rest together with a male for several days when she is in heat. She advertises her desire for a mate by making loud yowls and more frequent urine squirts.

Female servals give birth to one to five kittens after a gestation period of 65 to 75 days. In Ngorongoro, the cats produced two litters every 2.5 years. Kittens are born in dense vegetation and they are moved frequently by the mother. When they are first born, they are blind and helpless.

The mother changes her usual hunting pattern when she has kittens to feed. At that time, she will hunt all day, bringing back prey to the den. They will begin eating meat when they are four or five weeks old but she continues to nurse them until they are six months old.

Young servals are independent when they are one year old. Sexual maturity is reached when they are two. They may live between 13 and 20 years.

Predators: Kittens are vulnerable to a variety of predators such as raptors, snakes and jackals. Hyenas and leopards occasionally manage to capture adults.

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