Serval (Leptailurus serval) Fact Sheet: Behavior & Ecology

Primarily nocturnal or crepuscular

• Active at night or near dawn and dusk (from Geertsema 1985; Sunquist & Sunquist 2002)
• Factors influencing patterns of activity
• Daytime activity less common in areas with greater human presence (Sunquist & Sunquist 2002)
• Less active at night in areas with larger nocturnal predators (Sunquist & Sunquist 2002)
• Activity of individuals at Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania (Geertsema 1985)
• Hunt primarily near dawn and in late afternoon, though nighttime hunting also occurs (Geertsema 1985)
• Daily activity cycle
• In the morning, lie on a high point and sunbathe (Kingdon 1977)
• Rest in hottest part of day
• More active at mid-day when cloudy
• Inactive 40% of each day (Geertsema 1991)

Fixed home ranges (from Geertsema 1985)

• Held for several years
  
• Young males are expelled from their mother's range on reaching adolescence
• Use of ranges
  
• One or two core areas receive the most heavy use

Range overlap (from Geertsema 1985 unless otherwise noted)

• Female ranges often within those of a male
• Male ranges minimally overlap one another
  
• Male home ranges overlap those of females
• Kwa Zulu-Natal
• Partially overlapping ranges of 15-30 km² (Henley 1997, citing Bowland 1990)

Territory size (from Geertsema 1985)

• Female home range
• c. 9.5 km² (3.7 mi²) in Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
• Males home range
• c. 11.6 km² (4.5 mi²) in Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

Population density

• Regional estimates
• Ngorongoro Crater
• 0.42 individuals/km², minimum density in good habitat (Geertsema 1985)
• KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
• 1 individuals/12.5 km² (Henley 1997, citing Bowland 1990)

Solitary most often

• Exceptions
  
• Mothers with young
• Kittens remain with their mother for c. 1 year after birth
• Temporary association between male and female when reproducing
• Male remains near the female for 1-4 days when she is in estrus (Sunquist & Sunquist 2002)

Scent mark to advertise home range (from Geertsema 1985 unless otherwise noted)

• Behavior common among males
• Males mark more than females
• Frequently scent mark with urine
• One male averaged 46 sprays/hr
• Leave feces in prominent places; scrape with front and hind feet (Sunquist & Sunquist 2002)
• A territorial male will rake the ground over a spot scented by an intruder (Kingdon 1977)

Aggression (from Kingdon 1977; Leyhausen 1979)

• Aggressively confront territorial intruders
• Males patrolling territories and aggressively postures and threatening outsiders
• Vocal threats may also occur
• Response of non-dominant male
• Lowers fore-quarters and moves away, looking backwards and growling
• If body is half-crouched and tense, serval is ready to flee
• Displays similar to other cats (Estes 1990)
• Toss head up and down
• Bat at opponents with an outstretched paw

Play

•  "Angling play"(Leyhausen 1979)
  • Captured mice allowed to escape into a crevice so that the serval can then retrieve them
  • If a good crevice isn't nearby, serval carries prey carefully to new area
  • If mouse doesn't run into crevice, serval pushes it in with forepaws
  • A play object such as a piece of bark may be substituted for the live mouse
• Toss and capture
• Often toss rats, mice, birds into air, then recapture; snakes are stalked, caught, stalked again (Geertsema 1976, 1991)
  • May play in this way for 15 minutes

Visual signals (from Kingdon 1977)

•   In aggressive meetings between individuals
  • Ears flatten to form a flat plate with the head, white bars prominent, ear tips curl over
  • Back is arched
  • Fur erect
  • Serval stand with side facing the enemy
  • Exaggerated facial expressions, teeth bared, make low mewing sound
  • Heads may also be thrown up and down, eyes wide open, ears pricked
• Friendly recognition signaled by "curious swallowed mew" with a turn-around and shiver-tail display

Vocalization (Kingdon 1977; Sunquist & Sunquist 2002)

Serval audio, provided by Volodins Bioacoustic Group (2010).

• Growl
• Hiss
• Purr
• Wah wah call
• Newborn call
• "Curious chirping noise"
• Made during the first 3 months

Olfaction/Scent marking

• Spray urine and deposit feces
• Used to demarcate territory
• Scent mark more often in some social settings(Geertsema 1991)
  • A male following a female in estrus scent marked 556 times in one day

Quadrupedal

• Walk and run
  

Climb trees

• Shelter in trees when chased (Smithers 1983)

Leap and pounce (from Geertsema 1985, 1991 unless otherwise noted)

• Extremely agile
• Vertically jump over 1.5 m (5 ft) high
• Spring horizontally over 4 m (13 ft)
• Use stiff-legged bouncing jumps to secure prey, all four feet off the ground at once (Sunquist & Sunquist 2002)

Predator-prey dynamics

• Predators
• Hyenas, leopards, and African wild dogs (Smithers 1983, Geertsema 1991, Leyhausen 1990)
• Nile crocodiles and lions will kill servals, given the opportunity

Competitors

• Caracal
• Serval often out-competed by caracal when they share the same habitat (Stuart 1985)
• Some populations with little evidence of interspecific competition, noted in Tanzania (Geertsema 1991)

Enrichment items such as this one, resembling a mouse, provide young in managed care with opportunities to play. In the wild kittens capture mice and allow them to escape only to retrieve their "lost prey"; this form of play is vital for the development of hunting skills.

Image credit: © San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. All rights reserved.

The vocal repertoire of this species includes growls, hisses, purring, and a wah wah call.

Image credit: © San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. All rights reserved.

Geertsema (1985, 1991)
Kingdon (1977)
Leyhausen (1979, 1990)
Skinner & Chimimba (2005)
Smithers (1983)
Sunquist & Sunquist (2002)