INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS
Male serval Killian adjusting to his new environment at a Kariega Game Reserve boma enclosure.
Female serval Artemis at the boma enclosure at Kariega.
INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS
East London - Although widely distributed south
of the Sahara, the serval became extinct in the Cape provinces over the
last century mainly due to habitat loss, hunting and poaching.
Recently, however, private game reserves in the
Eastern Cape have begun reintroducing the species in the hopes of
contributing to the eventual re-establishment of these wild cats in the
region.
The serval is one of 10 indigenous wild cats
found in Africa. Only three other small wild cats are found in South
Africa: the caracal, African wild cat and the black-footed cat. The
other three species – the sand cat, golden cat and jungle cat – are
found in limited areas in north and central Africa. The remaining big
cats of Africa – lion, leopard and cheetah – receive much more attention
than their smaller cousins.
The serval is a medium-sized cat that can weigh
up to 20kg. They have particularly long legs that help them to jump up
to 3m and they have been seen to catch birds in flight. They also have
large ears, giving them excellent hearing and enabling them to detect
prey moving underground.
The Eastern Cape area was once dominated by
stock farming, but in recent decades has seen an increase in private
game reserves. This is good news for wildlife predators such as jackal,
caracal and even leopard, which are hunted and killed for the threat
they pose to livestock. In the case of the serval, it was wiped from the
area, but as private game reserves grow, so does their capacity to
reintroduce indigenous wildlife to the area.
Kariega Game Reserve is one of the private game
reserves in the region that recently released four servals – two male,
two female. The Kariega servals were bred by the Cat Conservation Trust,
an organisation specialising in the conservation of South Africa’s four
small wild cat species – serval, caracal, black-footed cat and wild
African cat.
Before their release on Kariega, the young
servals were transferred to a boma enclosure to enable them to adapt to
their new surroundings, as well as to be fitted with tracking collars
for effective monitoring. The two males have since been released and the
females are soon to follow.
A number of other private game reserves in the
Eastern Cape have also implemented serval reintroduction programmes,
including Shamwari Game Reserve and the Great Fish River Reserve.
- Saturday Star
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