🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

Camera-trap and telemetry studies describe the serval as primarily crepuscular and nocturnal, with notable bouts of diurnal activity especially in cooler weather or where human disturbance is low. Thi…

The serval ranges widely across sub-Saharan Africa, with relict populations in the far north, and is closely tied to well-watered grasslands, reedbeds, and the margins of wetlands and floodplains. Thi…

The serval possesses proportionally the largest ears of any cat, and research into its sensory ecology emphasizes how acoustic detection underpins its hunting. This overview draws together evidence th…

This overview examines the serval ecological dependence on moist habitats, drawing on studies from East and Southern African wetlands. Floodplains, papyrus swamps, and grassy marsh edges concentrate t…

A growing body of camera-trap work documents servals persisting in agricultural mosaics, irrigated farmland, and even some peri-urban edges where wetlands and rodents remain. This overview synthesizes…

Foraging studies cast the serval as one of the most specialized rodent hunters among cats, with rodents often making up the large majority of prey by number. This overview synthesizes observations of…

This synthesis reviews the conservation standing of the serval, broadly assessed as low risk across much of sub-Saharan Africa but with severely reduced or vanished populations at the northern and sou…