Leptailurus serval
Silhouette: Margot Michaud · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~60%
The serval (Leptailurus serval) is a wild small cat native to Africa. It is widespread in sub-Saharan countries, where it inhabits grasslands, wetlands, moorlands and bamboo thickets. Across its range, it occurs in protected areas, and hunting it is either prohibited or regulated in range countries.
It is the sole member of the genus Leptailurus. Three subspecies are recognised. The serval is a slender, medium-sized cat that stands 54–62 cm (21–24 in) tall at the shoulder and has a weight range of approximately 9–18 kg (20–40 lb). 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.
The serval is a solitary carnivore and active both by day and at night. It preys on rodents, particularly vlei rats, small birds, frogs, insects, and reptiles, using its hearing to locate prey. It leaps over 2 m (6 ft 7 in) above the ground to land on the prey on its forefeet, and kills it with a bite to the neck or the head. Both sexes establish highly overlapping home ranges of 10 to 32 km2 (3.9 to 12.4 sq mi), and mark them with feces and saliva. Mating takes place at different times of the year in different parts of their range, but typically once or twice a year in an area. After a gestational period of two to three months, a litter of one to four kittens is born. They are weaned at the age of one month and begin hunting on their own at six months of age. They leave their mother at the age of around 12 months. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 2 | Aberdare National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 3 | Mkomazi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 4 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 5 | Nairobi National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 6 | Masai Mara National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 7 | Amboseli National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 8 | Liwonde National Park | 🇲🇼 Malawi | |
| 9 | Arusha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 10 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 11 | Moremi Game Reserve | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 12 | Pilanesberg National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 13 | Chobe National Park | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 14 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Serval sighting in Moremi Game Reserve on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 32nd most-seen of the 35 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Serval in Moremi Game Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in April–May, August and November–February, the lowest months. That is one of Moremi Game Reserve's driest months, with almost no rain against 150 mm in January.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Serval sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
11th of 14
Of the 14 parks where we can rate Serval sightings, Moremi Game Reserve ranks 11th at about 10%. The best odds are in Ngorongoro Conservation Area (Tanzania, about 40%), Aberdare National Park (Kenya, about 40%) and Mkomazi National Park (Tanzania, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Felidae
The closest relatives of the Serval that you can see in Moremi Game Reserve (family Felidae, Felids) are Lion (about 70%), Leopard (about 50%) and Cheetah (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Serval is recorded against all the mammals logged in Moremi Game Reserve (7 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
