# Serval (Leptailurus serval), parque nacional de Tarangire, Tanzania, 2024-05-25, DD 54

- By: Diego Delso
- Date: 2024-05-25
- Classification: Photograph
- Museum: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Serval_(Leptailurus_serval),_parque_nacional_de_Tarangire,_Tanzania,_2024-05-25,_DD_54.jpg)
- Rights: [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
- Picture: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Serval_%28Leptailurus_serval%29%2C_parque_nacional_de_Tarangire%2C_Tanzania%2C_2024-05-25%2C_DD_54.jpg/1920px-Serval_%28Leptailurus_serval%29%2C_parque_nacional_de_Tarangire%2C_Tanzania%2C_2024-05-25%2C_DD_54.jpg
- Who can see it: Kids profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Portrait of a serval (Leptailurus serval), Tarangire National Park, Tanzania. It is widespread in sub-Saharan countries, where it inhabits grasslands, wetlands, moorlands and bamboo thickets. It's a slender, medium-sized cat that stands 54–62 centimetres (21–24 in) tall at the shoulder and has a weight range of approximately 9–18 kilograms (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 sense of hearing to locate prey. It leaps over 2 metres (6.6 ft) above the ground to land on the prey on its forefeet, and finally kills it with a bite on the neck or the head.