Small Wild Cats

[epaiva]

Serval (Leptailurus serval)
It is a wild cat found in Africa. It is the sole member of the genus Leptailurus and was first described by German naturalist Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber in 1776. Eighteen subspecies are recognised. The serval is a slender, medium-sized cat that stands 54–62 cm at the shoulder and weighs 8–16 kg. The head-and-body length is typically between 67 and 100 cm and the tail measures 24 to 45 cm. It is characterised by a small head, large ears, a golden-yellow to buff coat spotted and striped with black, and a short, black-tipped tail. The serval has the longest legs of any cat relative to its body size.
Active in the day as well as at night, servals tend to be solitary with minimal social interaction. Both sexes establish highly overlapping home ranges of 10 to 32 km2 (4–12 sq mi), and mark them with feces and saliva, they prey on rodents (particularly vlei rats), small birds, frogs, insects, and reptiles. The serval uses its sense of hearing to locate the prey; to kill small prey, it leaps over 2 m above the ground to land on the prey on its forefeet, and finally kills it with a bite on the neck or the head.
The serval is confined to Africa – it is rare in northern Africa and the Sahel, but widespread in southern Africa, where their range is reportedly expanding. In northern Africa, the serval is known only from Morocco and has been reintroduced in Tunisia, but is feared to be extinct in Algeria.
Credits to @iconicafrica @charlotte_rhod and @wu.photography

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

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