Until I visited Big Cat Rescue for my interview in February, I had never heard of servals before. They are really interesting looking cats with very long legs, big ears and fairly small faces. Because of their size and very pretty exotic looking coats, people often want them as pets. But they are also very hissy, territorial and usually not fond of people.

Almost all the servals here at the sanctuary are former pets, which shows that they are not very suitable as domestic animals.

While I find them very beautiful and fascinating, I have not been drawn towards an individual serval just yet. However, this changed a couple of weeks ago, when one of our white servals, Pharaoh, decided to choose me…
Pharaoh is one of the cats off the tour path. He is not very fond of people and dislikes groups. He usually sits in the high grass area of his enclosure, watching from afar. Sometimes he shows his fierceness by hissing. As I was walking the outside of Pharaohs area when cleaning, I greeted him and talked to him while doing my work. He eventually got up and walked over, observing me carefully and following me from the inside of his enclosure.
After a few days, I started to look forward to seeing him and, I believe, so did he. He started to rub his face against the barricades closest to me, and even tried to spray me three times a few days ago! I call him “little snow bunny” because he is so pretty and white, and I love it when he “hides” in the tall grass, thinking that nobody can see him.

Here are a few interesting facts about servals:

• The word serval is derived from the Latin word “cervus,” which means deer
• Servals are also called “the cat of spare parts” because of their appearance. They have large ears, with a very delicate head, long slim legs and a short tail
• The serval’s big ears allow them to hear rodents underground
• They can leap 10 to 1 feet into a tree
• Their natural habitat is the long-grass environment in the well-watered savannah in Africa
• Their markings are as individual to them as our fingerprints are to us, and are visible in their skin just like a tattoo
• Can leap vertically and catch prey by clapping their front paws together
• Prime target for poachers because of their pets (ceremonies, medicine, tourist trade)
• Servals have a hunting success rate of 50%