SERVAL (fELIS SERVAL). 145 



SERVAL (Felis serval). 



Native Names. 



Chinyanja Ndusi. Chisenga > 



Chiyao Njusi. Chibisa [ Mbale. 



Chikunda Nzunza. Chiwemba . . . . ^ 



Zulu (Ngoni) .... Njosi. Chitonga Likote. 



Food. 



Kills small animals, such as mice of different sorts ; guinea-fowl. 



Breaks into poultry houses and steals chickens from villages. 



Locusts. 



Spoor. 



Like that of a miniature leopard. Retractile claws and much the same 

 arrangement of toe-pads as the leopard, so could not be mistaken for jackal or spoor 

 of the same size which follow the hyaena type. 



The spoor of hind feet do not fall on that of fore feet, in ordinary pace, as do the 



cats following. 



Habitat. 



Lives in holes in rocks, in the bush, and in hollow trees during the daytime. 



Not usually found in high hills, but only in low, where it will lie up, coming down at night. 



Habits. 



Nocturnal. Spoor often met with on pathways as, like most nocturnal animals, 

 it uses them considerably. 



Distinguished from a young leopard by the long legs and short tail. 



The spots on the skin are single or run into stripes, but not grouped like the 

 finger-marking of a leopard. 



Natives trap this animal for the skin — which is prized as an ornament of dress — 

 and also on account of its depredations among their chickens. 



Notes. 



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