The Serval cat's (Leptailurus serval) natural range is restricted to Africa (endemic), where they have a wide distribution, inhabiting the wetter habitat throughout sub-Saharan Africa. They are absent from the central tropical rainforests and the deserts in the north and south west. Three subspecies of Serval are described across Africa.
Serval Distribution in Africa
Servals occur in 40 African countries across all five regions, but only marginally in North Africa.
List of African countries where Servals occur (IUCN 2021):
North Africa: Sudan, Morocco
West Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo
Central Africa: Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, DR Congo, Gabon
East Africa: Burundi; Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Southern Africa: Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland
Extinct: Southern part of South Africa (Southern Africa)
Possibly extinct: Algeria (North Africa)
Reintroduced: Tunisia (North Africa) and southern part of South Africa (Southern Africa)
Serval Subspecies
Historically there have been up to 18 subspecies of Serval, however the last taxonomic revision of the Felidae cat family in 2017 proposed only three subspecies, although further research is required:
Leptailurus serval serval - Southern Africa
Leptailurus serval constantina - West and Central Africa
Leptailurus serval lipostictus - East Africa
For the full classification of this wild cat see Caracal Lineage - Leptailurus serval Classification.
Serval Habitat
Serval cats are specialist carnivores that occur primarily in wetland habitat with long grasses in the vicinity of rivers and swamps. Even though their range is vast across most of Africa, Servals are only found in specific, suitable habitat patches within this broader distribution. Their most common habitat in Africa is moist grasslands.
The IUCN Red List has standardised habitat types globally and the following three types are of major importance for Servals (IUCN 2021):
- Grassland - Subtropical/Tropical Seasonally Wet/Flooded
- Wetlands (inland) - Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks
- Wetlands (inland) - Shrub Dominated Wetlands
The following vegetation types are also suitable:
- Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Dry
- Savanna - Dry
- Grassland - Subtropical/Tropical Dry
- Grassland - Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude
