Servals (Felis serval) are rare cats occurring in the Natal
midlands farmland, Drakensberg mountains and in game reserves
in Zululand. They are thought to be extremely uncommon on
farmland, yet are sometimes caught and killed in predator
control programmes. The objectives of this study were to
determine home range, habitat requirements, population density
and diet of servals and thereby propose management
recommendations for their conservation on farmland in the
Natal midlands.
Radio-telemetry was used to determine home range and habitat
requirements, while diet was determined using scat analysis.
Prey availability and vegetation changes in the habitat were
monitored seasonally.
Servals range over areas of 15-30km², but concentrate their
activity in wetland areas where their preferred prey, Otomys
irroratus, are most abundant. Over 90% of serval prey
comprises small mammals, which occur at high density in the
wetlands, but low density elsewhere in the study area. The
results of this project have highlighted the importance of
wetlands to farmland ecosystems. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1990.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/4470 |
| Date | January 1990 |
| Creators | Bowland, Jane Mary. |
| Contributors | Perrin, Michael R., Lawson, D. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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