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Serval (1995)

Acrylic on illustration board
8 1/2" x 4 1/2"

 The serval (Felis serval) is found throughout most of Africa, mainly in wooded savannas. Long of limb and neck, its build is quite unlike that of other cats. Its huge ears are adapted for its specialized style of hunting in heavy grass. The prey, mostly small rodents, is located quite accurately by sound, and pounced upon blindly. Like most felines, it hasn't adapted well to living with modern man, and it has disappeard from most of its former range. In the background a hoopoe (Upupa epops) hangs from a tree trunk.