The Cheetah and Serval. 199 



These animals are plentiful in the more open parts of 

 British East Africa, and they doubtless exist in the big 

 plains near Lake Bangweolo. The spoor of the cheetah is 

 slightly longer than that of the leopard, and the back part 

 of the pads is convex in the centre instead of concave as in 

 the leopard. Cheetahs are very fleet for a short distance 

 but they soon get winded, and cases have been known of a 

 horse overtaking them. In India, as most sportsmen are 

 doubtless aware, they are used for hunting the blackbuck, 

 although they are not always successful in killing, unless 

 they manage to stalk near enough to get close with the 

 first rush. 



SERVAL (Felts serval). 



NATIVE NAMES 

 Chinyanja - - Ndudzi. | Chingoni - - - Njosi. 



Approximate weight, $ 3olb. 



Good average length, <? 3ft. 6in. 



Very numerous all over this country, inhabits bush 

 country and goes into the open to hunt at night. It is 

 very fond, as most carnivorous animals are, of walking 

 along native paths, where it can go quietly. 



Kills small antelopes, and likely catches many fawns 

 and hares. The skins are prettily spotted, with fairly 

 long light hair under the belly. The natives kill numbers 

 when hunting with dogs, so it would seem that, like 

 the cheetah, the serval is short-winded when followed 

 far. Although the claws are retractile they are not so to 

 the same extent as lions and leopards, as in muddy ground 

 I have often seen them in the spoor. When startled, all 

 retractile clawed animals shoot out their claws, probably to 

 take a better grip of the ground in dashing off. In a sandy 

 nullah in India I once saw the pugs (tracks) of a tiger that 

 had chased a bullock at close quarters, and each pug 

 showed the front cut of the long claws. In moments of 

 excitement the claws are shot out, and cats do it when 

 watching a bird near at hand. 



