Servals

Serval (Leptailurus serval)

Servals are from Africa. They live in regions with tall grasses, and use their long legs to move through the grass. They have big ears to pinpoint the location of prey hiding in the grass without the prey knowing the cat is there. And if they flush out a bird, they can leap up to 10 feet in the air to knock down a bird in flight. Overall listed as Least Concern; North African serval, Endangered. The North African subspecies has been isolated from the sub-Saharan servals for 6000-7000 years. In Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia there have been scattered reports of sightings, but no confirmed record since 1936. In southern Africa they survive in a variety of habitats, from the hot coastal belt, to thornscrub, savannah woodlands, and in mountain areas. Melanistic servals are more common above 10,000 feet.