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| SCIENTIFIC
CLASSIFICATION |
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| COMMON
NAME: |
serval |
| KINGDOM: |
Animalia |
| PHYLUM: |
Chordata |
| CLASS: |
Mammalia |
| ORDER: |
Carnivora |
| FAMILY: |
Felidae |
| GENUS
SPECIES: |
Felis
(cat) serval (deer-wolf) or Leptailurus
serval |
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| DESCRIPTION: |
The
serval is a small to medium-sized, slender cat with
spots and stripes. It has long legs, large ears,
and a yellowish coat with distinct black markings. |
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| SIZE: |
Averages
about 1m (40 in.) long and 60 cm (2 ft.) tall at
the shoulder. |
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| WEIGHT: |
Approximately
9-18 kg (20-40 lb.) |
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| DIET: |
Eats
a wide variety of meat such as insects, rodents,
birds, lizards; also will hunt small antelope and
gazelle |
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| GESTATION: |
Approximately
75 days |
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| SEXUAL
MATURITY: |
1-2
years |
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| LIFE
SPAN: |
Averages
roughly 13 years |
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| RANGE: |
Northwest
and sub-Sahara Africa |
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| HABITAT: |
Found
near permanent water on savannas, and in open forests |
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| POPULATION: |
GLOBAL |
Unknown |
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| STATUS: |
IUCN |
Species
not listed; subspecies F.s. constantinus
listed as Endangered |
| CITES |
Appendix
II |
| USFWS |
Species
not listed; subspecies F.s. constantinus
listed as Endangered |
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|
| 1. |
Servals have long, powerful legs that are important
for jumping. They have been known to jump as high
as 3.6 m (12 ft.) to catch birds in mid air. |
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| 2. |
The spotted coat is important in breaking up the
pattern on their body. This is essential for stalking
prey. It is a protective camouflage against larger
carnivores that will kill and eat the small cats. |
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| 3. |
Servals' large ears act as radar dishes to locate
food. These cats listen for the movement of animals
in the grass before they pounce. It is believed
that they use their ears as much as their eyes. |
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| 4. |
Servals,
unlike other small cats, are much more diurnal,
or crepuscular, meaning they are active in early
mornings and late evenings. |
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| 5. |
Servals,
like most cats, live a solitary existence. The only
associations formed are during mating and between
a mother and her kittens. |
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Unfortunately, as with most carnivores, serval populations
are at risk. They are not only suffering from loss
of habitat, but they are also destroyed when suspected
of killing domestic fowl.
Servals are important small hunters that, unlike
large carnivores, eat a wide variety of smaller
prey, such as rodents and birds. Because the over-population
of rodents poses such a direct threat to the environment
and agricultural crops, servals and other small
carnivores are extremely important to the balance
of many ecosystems. |
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|
|
Estes, R. D. The Safari Companion. Vermont:
Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 1993. |
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Grzimek, B. (ed.). Grzimek's Encyclopedia Mammals.
Vol. 2. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Co.,
1990. |
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Macdonald, D. (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Mammals.
Vol. 2. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1984.
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| Nowak,
R. M. Walker's Mammals of the World. Vol. 1.
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991. |
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Austin
Zoo
www.austinzoo.com |
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Lincoln
Park Zoo
www.lpzoo.com |
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