 |
 |
 |
Enhance your computer
desktop with the FREE
big cats screen saver! |
|
|
|
 |
 |
| Scientific Name: Leptailurus serval |
Size: Head and body 27.5-39.5 inches
(70-100cm);
tail 14-17.5 inches (36-45cm) |
| Weight: 31-40 pounds (14-18kg) |
| Distribution: Only in Africa. |
| Habitat: Prefers well watered grasslands
and are confined to areas near water. |
| Diet: Specialized rodent catchers,
but also catch and eat frogs, lizards, mole rats, small birds and insects. |
| Reproduction: After a gestation period
of about 74 days, female gives birth to 1-3 kittens |
| Status: Least
Concern |
|
|
| The origin of the name serval is strange.
It comes from a Portuguese word meaning "deer-wolf." Long, lean, and
lanky, the Serval has a remarkably dainty, elongated body and legs. Its small
head is perched on a slender neck and surmounted by huge batlike ears. The tawny
coat is covered with small black spots, and the short tail is marked with dark
rings and has a black tip. The medium-sized Serval is an African predator that
prefers to live among the long grasses and scrubland near riverbanks. It favors
open country to dense forest, but only where there is plenty of cover. Although
it will take a wide variety of prey animals |
 |
|
including
birds, fish, frogs, lizards, and large insects, this species is, above all, a
specialized rodent-hunter. It uses its enormous ears to detect the sounds of rodents
above or below ground. If they are above ground, it pounces on them with a curious
vertical leap, rising high in the air and then landing on top of them, a technique
that seems to bewilder the prey, making it difficult for them to know which way
to flee. If the prey are below ground, the Serval makes use of its long front
feet to probe into recesses, grab the victims with its claws, and hook them out
into the open. Sometimes it uses yet another technique, waiting and watching for
a rodent to break cover. If it detects one moving about just below ground, it
will stand very still over the entrance to the burrow, with one paw raised up
ready to strike. Like a statue it will hold this position until the rodent believes
that the coast is clear. Then, as soon as it emerges, it is scooped high up into
the air with a single deft movement of the Serval's long front leg. As the rodent
falls to the ground it is snatched and killed.
The Serval is confined to Africa, but occurs over most of the continent, avoiding
only the extremes of wet - in the western rain forests - and the extremes of dry
- in the Sahara. It never strays far from water. |
| SERVAL
PHOTOS |
|
 |
| |
| |
|
