It is hard to guess what a Serval weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Serval (Leptailurus serval) on average weights 11.9 kg (26.23 lbs).
The Serval is from the family Felidae (genus: Leptailurus). It is usually born with about 254 grams (0.56 lbs). They can live for up to 23 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 83.5 cm (2′ 9″). On average, Servals can have babies 1 times per year with a litter size of 2.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The serval (Leptailurus serval) is a wild cat native to Africa. It is rare in North Africa and the Sahel, but widespread in sub-Saharan countries except rainforest regions. On the IUCN Red List it is listed as Least Concern.It was first described by von Schreber in 1776. It is the sole member of the genus Leptailurus. Three subspecies are recognised. The serval is a slender, medium-sized cat that stands 54–62 cm (21–24 in) at the shoulder and weighs 9–18 kg (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.Active in the day as well as at night, servals tend to be solitary with minimal social interaction. Both sexes establish highly overlapping home ranges of 10 to 32 km2 (4 to 12 sq mi), and mark them with feces and saliva. Servals are carnivores – they prey on rodents (particularly vlei rats), small birds, frogs, insects, and reptiles. The serval uses its sense of hearing to locate the prey; to kill small prey, it leaps over 2 m (6 ft 7 in) above the ground to land on the prey on its forefeet, and finally kills it with a bite on the neck or the head. Mating takes place at different times of the year in different parts of their range, but typically once or twice a year in an area. After a gestational period of two to three months, a litter of one to four is born. Weaning occurs at one month, and kittens begin hunting on their own at six months. The juveniles leave their mother at 12 months. It occurs in protected areas across its range, and hunting of servals is either prohibited or regulated in several countries.
Animals of the same family as a Serval
We found other animals of the Felidae family:
- Cougar bringing 53.93 kilos (118.9 lbs) to the scale
- Leopard cat bringing 2.78 kilos (6.13 lbs) to the scale
- Cat bringing 2.88 kilos (6.35 lbs) to the scale
- Jaguarundi bringing 6.88 kilos (15.17 lbs) to the scale
- Oncilla bringing 1.11 kilos (2.45 lbs) to the scale
- Bobcat bringing 6.38 kilos (14.07 lbs) to the scale
- Iberian lynx bringing 11.08 kilos (24.43 lbs) to the scale
- Fishing cat bringing 8.83 kilos (19.47 lbs) to the scale
- Rusty-spotted cat bringing 1.42 kilos (3.13 lbs) to the scale
- Bay cat bringing 3.43 kilos (7.56 lbs) to the scale
Animals with the same weight as a Serval
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Leptailurus serval:
- Klipspringer with a weight of 13.46 kilos (29.67 lbs)
- Siamang with a weight of 10.84 kilos (23.9 lbs)
- Black snub-nosed monkey with a weight of 11 kilos (24.25 lbs)
- Red-flanked duiker with a weight of 12.06 kilos (26.59 lbs)
- Nilgiri langur with a weight of 10.6 kilos (23.37 lbs)
- Beira (antelope) with a weight of 10.91 kilos (24.05 lbs)
- Reeves’s muntjac with a weight of 13.5 kilos (29.76 lbs)
- Roosevelt’s muntjac with a weight of 10.76 kilos (23.72 lbs)
- Water chevrotain with a weight of 10.83 kilos (23.88 lbs)
- Siamang with a weight of 10.9 kilos (24.03 lbs)
Animals with the same size as a Serval
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Serval:
- Dwarf musk deer with a size of 90 cm (3′ 0″)
- Coyote with a size of 87.5 cm (2′ 11″)
- Silvery gibbon with a size of 67.6 cm (2′ 3″)
- Red-fronted gazelle with a size of 88.5 cm (2′ 11″)
- Jaguarundi with a size of 70.4 cm (2′ 4″)
- Jaguarundi with a size of 70.1 cm (2′ 4″)
- Golden jackal with a size of 83 cm (2′ 9″)
- Sulawesi palm civet with a size of 68.9 cm (2′ 4″)
- Buru babirusa with a size of 95 cm (3′ 2″)
- Thomson’s gazelle with a size of 88.5 cm (2′ 11″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Serval
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (2) as a Serval:
- Common echymipera
- Stirton’s deer mouse
- Indomalayan pencil-tailed tree mouse
- Black-tailed jackrabbit
- Fossa (animal)
- Himalayan striped squirrel
- African clawless otter
- Platypus
- Greater bilby
- Red-handed tamarin
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Serval
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Serval:
- Gemsbok with an average maximal age of 20 years
- Bighorn sheep with an average maximal age of 24 years
- Guatemalan black howler with an average maximal age of 20 years
- Ross seal with an average maximal age of 21 years
- Aardvark with an average maximal age of 24 years
- Reindeer with an average maximal age of 20.17 years
- White-faced saki with an average maximal age of 20.67 years
- Egyptian mongoose with an average maximal age of 20 years
- Platypus with an average maximal age of 22 years
- Sambar deer with an average maximal age of 26.42 years