EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Serval (Felis serval)
Masai Mara, Kenya

Explanation:  For this special edition of EPOW, I present a short video I recently shot of a serval hunting in the grasslands of Masai Mara, southern Kenya.

Servals are beautiful denizens of the savannas of Africa, and the largest of the smaller African cats.  They are built for stalk-and-pounce hunting, with long legs and a long neck for running and spotting prey, and long ears for detecting the slightest motion, nicely shown in the above video.  Watch for the brief moment when, after the pounce, it shows the prey -- probably a mouse -- held in its mouth.

Servals typically feed on rodents, frogs, reptiles, and other small prey, but occasionally might take larger prey such as flamingos, storks, and even young antelope.  They are typically solitary and males hold exclusive territories.  

Deserving of conservation attention, the serval is listed as a CITES II species, that is, a species that is not presently threatened with extinction but that may become so if their trade is not regulated.  

Happy 5th Anniversary to Us 
at Ecology Picture of the Week!

This week EPOW reaches its 5-year milestone.  I have had great fun posting my photos and travel adventure stories here.  I hope you have been enjoying some of them, as well.  I have many more yet to share.  

I greatly appreciate all my readers, and the many interesting and engaging emails I have received over these years on so many diverse topics.   

My deep thanks to my special friends Tom Bruce and Michael Bruce, who have been donating server space and technical support and guidance all these years, from their remote Southwest location.  

If anything, I hope that this little corner of the web can inspire others to learn, to post their own experiences, and to enjoy exploring this wonderful and fragile world that we all share.  May this be our little 5-year anniversary present to you all.  

- Bruce Marcot, April 7, 2008