Serval

Hearing prey

The serval’s most remarkable feature is its ears — disproportionately large and mobile, capable of rotating independently to detect sounds from different directions. The serval hunts primarily by sound: standing still in tall grass, it rotates its ears to precisely locate small rodents moving beneath the surface, then leaps straight up to 3 metres and pounces on the exact spot. It can hear rodents moving in underground tunnels.

Hunting success

The serval has the highest hunting success rate of any wild cat — it successfully catches prey on approximately 50–60% of attempts, compared to 20–30% for lions. This extraordinary efficiency comes from its acoustic hunting technique, which eliminates the guesswork of visual stalking. It hunts primarily small rodents (90% of diet), particularly vlei rats, but also takes birds, frogs, insects, and small antelopes.

The caracal model

The serval is the evolutionary ancestor of the caracal, and also of the domestic cat lineage in some phylogenies. A domestic cat hybrid — the Savannah cat — is bred by crossing servals with domestic cats, producing a large, spotted, semi-wild pet. This has created demand for serval ownership that wildlife conservation organisations strongly discourage.

Tall grass specialist

Servals are completely adapted to tall grass savannah and are rarely found in open short-grass areas or forest. They wade into shallow water to catch frogs and fish. Their long legs — the longest relative to body size of any cat — allow them to see over tall grass and take long strides when running.