The African Savanna. Characterized by tall grass and scattered trees,
these sub-saharan tropical grasslands are home to an unparalleled amount of wildlife.
In this biome largely dominated by packs, one creature stands alone.
The Serval.
Servals may be small cats, but perhaps a more apt name is tall cats.
These graceful felines roam the Savanna on the longest legs relative to body size of any feline.
They’re basically cats on stilts.
While you may think that they have long graceful legs for chasing prey through
their vast territory, they are actually purpose built for one thing: pouncing.
These cats can leap two meters directly into the air to catch birds mid flight,
and four meters forward to pounce on unsuspecting rodents.
Unlike many other cat species, Servals are pure ambush hunters.
They will stay perfectly still for up to fifteen minutes- blending into the tall
grass with their spotted pattern- waiting for prey to scurry along.
These cats are perfectly adapted to their environment.
In the open grasslands, their prey can’t escape
into the trees - where their pounces would be less effective.
In addition to their spring loaded legs,
they have another key adaptation for hunting prey. Their giant ears.
Their ears are huge, and can move independently of one another,
swiveling up to a hundred and eighty degrees to pinpoint the exact location of their next meal.
Their hearing is very sensitive, and can precisely pick up the faint,
high-pitched sounds of rodents walking in the nearby grass.
Their hearing is so accurate that they rely on it almost exclusively when hunting.
This serval has her ears to the ground.
A few meters off, she hears something.
A rat. It’s scurrying through the grass, unaware of the camouflaged cat.
The serval silently compresses it’s leg muscles,
and then releases their energy - leaping into the air.
She lands paws first on the rat.
Snapping its neck with her powerful jaws, she carries it off into the savanna.
The rat never heard her coming.
Servals are very effective hunters. They strut away successfully from
two out of every three hunts. In fact, making an average of 15
kills per day, servals are an excellent indicator of a healthy ecosystem.
If there is a serval around, it’s because there’s a lot of life in the area.
While hyenas may harass them for their kills, the serval’s only real predators are humans.
North of the Sahara, their local populations are endangered.
They are captured by poachers to be bred for the exotic pet trade,
they’re killed for their coats, and parts of their bodies are used in some traditional medicines.
Climate change, pollution and human encroachment are destroying their habitats,
making their ranges smaller and smaller with every passing year.
Fortunately, as a whole, their populations are stable,
and they are listed as a species of least concern.
Servals maintain large territories, and while their territories do overlap with other servals,
they tend to only cross paths to mate. Males are non-confrontational,
and prefer to avoid each other, rather than challenge each other for mating rights.
Females are only fertile for about a week out of every year, so they have to make it count.
If successful, females will gestate for three months, beforing having a
litter of two or three kittens. They’re born under-devleopped,
but by six months of age, the cubs are big enough to start pouncing on prey for themselves.
Much like house-cats, Servals are known to play with their catches - allowing them to
“escape” before pouncing on them all over again.
No matter the size, cats will be cats.