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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing servals. These cats are also known as giraffe cats due to their long necks! Servals have big ears, long necks, and the longest legs in relation to body size of all living cat species. In size, servals average about 30 pounds (13.6kg) in weight, though males are slightly larger than females. They have golden fur with spots and sometimes even stripes, but their fur pattern may change based on where they live.

These cats can be found throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Originally, they lived in northern parts of this continent, but they’ve gone extinct from this region. Nowadays, they can be found in just about any habitat type as long as there is shade and water. Sources suggest that servals prefer places with access to water and may even use human-made structures to move around in environments they may not have otherwise used. They don’t, however, live in tropical rainforests or deserts.

Servals with big spots are more often found in open habitats like savannahs while those with smaller spots spend more time in densely vegetated areas like forests! Servals are nocturnal or crepuscular meaning they’re most active during the night or twilight hours. They rest during the heat of the day in shaded areas or even abandoned animal burrows.

When they aren’t resting, servals hunt for food. A majority of this cat’s diet consists of rodents. In fact, in a single year, one serval may eat upwards of 4,000 rodents! Their large, round ears are able to hear sounds of their prey even underground! Aside from mice and voles, servals also eat frogs, reptiles, insects, and birds. Their long legs come in handy for making pounces and leaps into the air where they can catch birds right out of the sky. Servals can easily jump 10 feet (3m) from the ground.

Plus, they’re really good at catching their meals. Servals hook about 50% of all the prey they attempt to catch. And they do this all on their own! A group of lions is only successful in their prey attempts about 30% of the time! Speaking of lions, predators and competitors to servals include larger cat-like animals like leopards and hyenas, as well as wild dogs.

For most of the year, servals are solitary, though they do come together to mate. Males often have larger territories that overlap with a handful of females with whom he’ll breed. Gestation takes about 70 days and the female will give birth to one to four kittens in an abandoned burrow, rock crevice, or thicket. They’re weaned at five months but will spend anywhere from a year to eighteen months with their mother before she chases them out of her home. In the wild, servals can live to be about twelve years old, though they’ve been known to double that in zoos. Though they’re on the smaller side, these animals don’t make good house cats!

Like the caracal, the name serval is believed to mean something like “lynx”. While they have the shortened tail like cats of the Lynx genus, servals lack those distinct ear tufts seen in their distant relative the caracal. Servals may also be called the “spotted ghost” for their cryptic nature. This is because it’s often quite difficult to find servals in the wild. They blend in with their environment and often don’t come out, especially if people are around. This is similar to the ocelot who is sometimes referred to as the “ghost cat” for its similar cryptic nature,

For more facts on servals, check out the links below. Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today! Thank you to our Patrons SpikeSpiegel93, Dad, and everyone else for their support of this channel! Thank you to moeniac, faustina, the toy collector for today’s request! And thank you for watching Animal Fact Files!