Species profile
About the serval
The serval is built entirely around one hunting method. It has the longest legs and largest ears relative to body size of any cat, and it locates rodents moving beneath grass it cannot see through, then leaps and pins them with its forepaws. Strike rates are among the highest recorded for any predator.
Moist grassland near water is its habitat, which makes the Ngorongoro Crater floor, the Serengeti's wetter drainages and Lake Manyara reliable places to look. Early morning and late afternoon are the productive hours.
Life in the wild
Behavior & relationships
Behavior
Mostly crepuscular. Hunts by hearing, freezing to listen before a vertical pounce that can clear two metres. Also swats birds out of the air.
Social life
Solitary and territorial outside the breeding season; males and females meet only briefly to mate.
What makes it remarkable
Special features
Proportionally the longest legs of any cat, and outsized ears that work as parabolic dishes for locating prey underground or under grass.
