 |
Serval
|
Serval photo reproduced
under creative commons see base of page
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Photos ©Helmi
Flick. Click on thumbnails |
Introduction
The African
Serval is a medium-smallish sized
wild African cat and a domestic cat breed, albeit
quite rare; but not as rare on my reckoning as some other domestic
cat breeds (see rare
cat breeds).
This cat has been domesticated and bred, primarily in the USA. They are
tame wild animals. The Times Newspaper (UK) reported on a case of a
tame Serval that had accompanied the "owner" to a central London
restaurant. The date was November 12th 1923. So, you can see that domesticated Servals are not a recent idea. Read more about this story.
Very strong bonds can be forged between a tame wild
animal and humans. Note though that although this is a medium sized wild
cat the Serval is a very large domestic cat (25-40 lbs compared with 7-11 lbs
for a domestic cat - go to a comparison chart on domestic
cat size). You can make a comparison between this cat and the
Savannah in the photograph below.
The Savannah
cat is a domestic cat/Serval
hybrid and a big cat in her own right (the biggest registered
purely domestic cat). Yet, in this photograph,
you can see that the Savannah is very much smaller than her wild
relative.
As a person who adopts this cat you will be in part responsible for
taming her. In taming her you take away from the cat her natural
ability to provide for herself. She becomes dependent on the "owner".
There is I think therefore an added responsibility to care for your
Serval throughout her life.
In the Savanna habitat this cat's diet is mainly small animals such as
rodents and includes insects, birds, fish, reptiles and occasionally
larger animals such as small antelope. This needs to be kept in mind
when
considering the kind of diet that you will be providing (see below).
Behavior
This tamed wild cat likes to head butt a
lot and yes they purr just
like your standard Moggie (well not exactly like your Moggie - much
louder actually - you'll love the purr).

|
Serval
jumping. Servals can jump 8 feet up.
credit: jurvetson
|
Their meow is unusual. It is a
mixture of a birds "chirp" and a kitten's meow. The Maine
Coon also
chirps. The cat is dog-like in character playing fetch etc. Wild
cat/domestic hybrids such as the Bengal
and Pixie-bob
are also
dog-like.
It must be the wild genes, which when domesticated produces
this characteristic. This may also be associated with cat
intelligence as
it seems the wild cats and wild cat hybrids are very intelligent, which
makes the cat more trainable.
They also like to play in and with water (same as the Bengal). Some
owners/breeders keep pools in the cat's enclosure for this reason. This
love of water extends to liking rain. You're going to have a lot of
cleaning up and drying down to do.....
The photographs on this page show how big her ears
are (click on the thumbnails above if you haven't already to get a good
look). They also show you that her ears are tall and erect. They allow
her
to pick up sounds that we cannot hear and "home-in" on the source of
the sound with unerring accuracy.
They kill their prey by jumping powerfully up in the air and landing
their front paws onto the prey, killing it (see the video below). They
apparently have a 50%
kill rate, which is exceptionally high. Other similarities to the
Bengal are their athleticism and the fact that they use their paws to
grab things (and poke down holes).

Serval cat (female) - photo
copyright Kathrin Stucki A1 Savannahs
There is obviously a lot of pleasure and fascination to be gained in
living with a tame wild animal with the kind of skills that this cat
has.
Here are some more comparisons between the Serval and standard domestic
cat:
| Serval |
Domestic Cat |
| more prone to litter box and spraying
problems |
rarely have to deal with spraying problems
unless they are unneutered |
| jump high and crash through things |
when they jump they do so with a certain
precision and rarely knock things over |
| like to spend most of their time using
teeth and claws in play |
like to play a normal amount |
| deadly pouncing action |
pounce sometimes but rarely in play |
| need huge litter box |
normal litter boxes |
| faster reflexes |
average reflexes |
| strong |
average strength |
| exceptional jumping skills |
average jumping skills, although some are
exceptional - Chausie,
NFC |
| very large claws! |
average claws |
| hissing can mean she is excited and pleased
to see you |
hissing and back arched means threatened
and defensive |
| tendencies to chew anything and swallow
things |
no such tendencies or rarely happens, but
sometimes present in wildcat hybrids such as the Bengal
cat. |
It is helpful if you train your Serval at an early age (for example, to
accept being restrained) to help manage the extra demands that a cat of
this type imposes on you.

|
Savannah
resting on top of a Serval copyright Helmi Flick
Click on the image too see a larger image
|
The Law
The laws governing the keeping of a wild animal obviously varies from
country to country and in the US from State to State. An absolute must
is to study the situation carefully before embarking on adopting this
magnificent cat.
It would seem impossible to contemplate "owning" a wild but tamed cat
without having a lot of space and the financial means to build a large
and well equipped enclosure. There will be laws governing everything to
do with this cat as wild animals are potentially dangerous to humans.
For example, there will probably be laws governing the materials used
in an enclosure and the design of the enclosure. See this website for details (this is
a USA website)
The Moral Issues

|
Serval
credit: Whitney GH creative commons
this is a large thumbnail - click for larger image
|
No judgment or comment provided, but here are some thoughts:
- is it right to keep a wild animal in an
enclosure all her life?
- whose interest are you thinking of when you
think about adopting this or any wild cat, yours or the cats?
- can you guarantee to comply with the law?
- how will neighbors react?
- can you guarantee to protect your Serval (you
owe this cat full protection for life once adopted)?
- can you meet the demands? On 27th Jan. 2008
there was story on the news that there was a Serval running around West
Seattle. Another Serval had been found 2 weeks earlier doing the same
thing. Obviously some people are unable to meet the demands to the
detriment of the cat.
Diet
You will need to replicate the wild diet. That requires study and care.
Raw meat, poultry and fish must be the body of the diet. Breeders would
probably suggest supplements such as vitamins and calcium. The best
information on this subject can be seen here.
Veterinary requirements
It is likely that any vet can deal with a Serval but some vets will be
better equipped than others. Do you know who they are? Check this out
thoroughly beforehand.
|
Photo: © bikini sleepshirt
(Flickr) creative commons
The Ears
If you click on the thumbnail photograph second from the left at the
top of this page you will see in large format the interesting ear
pattern on the back of the Serval's ears. There must be a reason for
such a pronounced white marking, but what is it?
An aggressive and hostile cat will display a special ear posture; the
ears are rotated and slightly flattened so that they become visible
from the front. The position is half way between alert and defensive
(flattened).
This is a signal to another animal (and a signal that it is understood)
that she is ready to attack. The half flattened position says that you
don't frighten me such that my ears are totally flattened (defensive
position to protect the ears).
This special ear position also allows the Serval to fully flatten her
ears if the opponent decides to attack and a fight ensues.
Declawing
There will be a huge desire to declaw as a this cat has big sharp
claws. But declawing is in my opinion inherently wrong and can never be
justified. It is a serious procedure that may well damage the cat
emotionally. You will be adopting a wild cat and then taking away from
the cat a very substantial part of his "being" and psyche. Some
breeders will have the operation done automatically; shame on them. Do
you want to adopt a wild cat or not? This website has some articles
on the subject and there are many on the internet. I suspect
all say, "don't do it"
.
A Story about a Serval
This is an interesting story because it concerns a court case of November 12th 1923
in which a race hourse trainer sued a person who had taken a tamed
Serval into a central London restaurant (the West-End), the Cafe Royal,
which is very near Picadilly Circus. This is right in the middle of
London.
The race horse trainer had been allegedly bitten by the Serval as
he sat down in the restaurant. He sought damages and the legal action
threw up some interesting "evidence" about the domestication of this
wild cat. It is also interesting to note how long ago that Servals were
considered to be suitable as a domestic cat, at least by some people.
The evidence given concerned whether such a cat could be truly tamed.
It was suggested that the wildness in this cat could not be completely
"eradicated". When they were young things were alright. The Serval
concerned was given to the "owner" in South Africa when the cat was 8
months old (and subsequently imported into England). As the cat became
an adult, it was argued, (for the person who was bitten) that their
wildness was more likely to be revealed.
A book entitled, "Animal Life in Africa" by a Major J
Stephenson-Hamilton had stated that this cat did not lend itself easily
to domestication. The food of the Serval was large rats and guineafowl.
I had thought that the tamed Serval as a domestic cat was an American idea. I was wrong.
From Serval to Home page
Sources:
- http://www.exoticcatz.com
- Wikipedia
- Messybeast
- breeder sites
- Re: header photo, this is a Flickr photographer
I have lost the name of - please come forward as I want to credit and
copyright you.
- Desmond Morris
- Times Archive
|
|