Serval (Leptailurus serval) Fact Sheet: Reproduction & Development

Courtship behavior (Sunquist & Sunquist 2002)

• Partners remain close when female is in estrus
• Male and female may stay together for duration of the female's 1-4 day estrus
• Signals of female receptivity
• Purring vocalization
• Rubs body, chin, and cheeks against the male
• Solicits male by lowering the chest and raising the hindquarters

Copulation (Sunquist & Sunquist 2002)

• Male mounts from behind
• He bites the nape of her neck

Polyestrus

• May give birth twice a year, in excellent habitats

Estrus

• Duration
  
• 1-4 days (Sunquist & Sunquist 2002)
  
• Signs of estrus
• Female utters short, sharp meows
• These are repeated frequently

Gestation

•  c. 74 days (Wackernagel 1968)

Birth

• Seasonal timing
• Often c. 1 month before peak periods of prey density  (Sunquist & Sunquist 2002)
• Location of partutition
• Den in dense vegetation or unused aardvark or porcupine burrow (Sunquist & Sunquist 2002)
• Litter size
• 1-3 typically; up to 5 on rare occasions
• Newborn characteristics(Wackernagel 1968)
  • Blind
  • Weigh c. 250 g (about 9 oz)
  • Soft woolly coat; more gray than in adults (Smithers 1983)
  • Ears folded, but unfold and grow rapidly (Kingdon 1977)

Interval between births

• c. 184 days (Wackernagel 1968)

Infant (< 1 year old)  (from Sunquist & Sunquist 2002 unless otherwise noted)

• Care
  
• Provided by mother
• Mother brings food to den after 1 month
• Her hunting is restricted to smaller areas (than normal) when with kittens
• Development
• Eyes open 9-13 days
• Weaning at about 4-5 months (Leyhausen 1990)
• Young get adult canines at 6 months
• Begin hunting for themselves around 6-7 months

Juvenile

• Become independent c. 1 year
• Most young are chased away by mom
• Newly independent young may be tolerated in mother's home range for one year and longer
  • Daughters tolerated longer than sons

Adult

• Sexual maturity
• 12-24 months.

Wild populations

• About 12-17 years (Leyhausen 1990)

In managed care

• Median life expectancy
  • 13.5 years (AZA 2023)

Predators

• In the wild
• Killed by leopards, African hunting dogs, and spotted hyenas (Leyhausen 1990)

Serval are born blind with a soft, woolly coat. The eyes open within the first 2 weeks of life. Individuals such as this five-week old Serval born at the San Diego Zoo are beginning to develop adult canine teeth and their mothers' have started the weaning process.

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

Kingdon (1977)
Leyhausen (1990)
Smithers (1983)
Sunquist & Sunquist (2002)
Wackernagel (1968)