Serval
By: Nicole Leaman

Have you ever been sitting in the grass, while the tan cat with long legs was eying you from above? If you have, you must be a small bird or rodent and the predator spying on you is the mighty serval. The serval has tan-yellow fur with black spots that differ in size and shape. Servals have a small head and large oval-shaped ears. Their eyes are usually brownish or greenish. The wild cat has long legs that allows it to jump high into the air to pounce onto its prey. The serval only weighs about 20-40 pounds, its small size helps the it to jump high in the air. Servals are predators and eat mostly small rodents, but their diet also consists of frogs, small birds, reptiles, insects, rats and mice. Servals will also catch larger animals such as flamingoes, small antelope, hares, and duikers (a kind of antelope). An interesting fact about servals is that they not only eat meat but they also eat grass to help with their digestion. When a serval attempts to catch a meal, it first locates the animal with its great hearing. Then the serval will stalk the animal from nearby, finally after the serval is close enough, it will pounce on its victim. If the serval catches a larger animal, it usually will save it for later by hiding its large prey under some dead leaves. Servals can live in …show more content…
They are rated least concern on the IUCN Red List, which means that people are not very concerned about them becoming endangered or extinct at the moment. Sadly servals do have predators that include, hyenas, leopards, hunting dogs and people. Some people still kill servals for their skin and for being near their livestock. Another threat to servals is that the wetlands are degrading and disappearing. Even though the serval has threats in its habitat, there are countries in Africa where killing servals is illegal. If it weren’t for this, the serval might have already been