Serval Plays Like Domestic Cat

This is a video of an adult female serval playing with a feather on stick. I was holding the stick! The object between me and her is her home, an igloo shelter. She lives outside in Oklahoma. It is hot, very hot in the summer. Not that that would concern her as she is an African medium-sized wiild cat species. Her name is Serena. She is semi-domesticated and at one time lived with a woman who relinquished her to A1 Savannahs, where the video was filmed. She lived in an enclosure about 20 x 60 feet; fully enclosed on all sides including a roof.


It was filmed about 4-5 years ago I had decided not to publish it but having seen it again I think it does let people get a feeling for what this wild cat species is like. It also shows how similar the serval can be to the domestic cat under certain situations but make no doubt they are wild cats and behave like it – much stronger too.

11 thoughts on “Serval Plays Like Domestic Cat”

  1. I was sad to be in their with her. Kathrin Stucki who owned A1 Savannahs at the time with her husband was concerned about enclosure size. I don’t believe any cat breeder can truly animals including cats.

  2. I can only repeat that wild cats belong in the wild, it’s not right to breed semi wild kittens to live in captivity, no matter how large the enclosure they are imprisoned in happens to be!
    No one should be allowed to OWN any wild creature!

  3. Exactly!!! I agree with you totally. Wild Cats belong in the Wild. As if they are too Domesticated they lose their natural abilitiy. I mean I admire these Cats but would take alot i.e Having a huge area and having the right kind of FOod etc.

  4. Hi Michael
    Very interesting article
    But I have a point of view that although these wild cats are very beautiful innocent looking cats but we must avoid to keep them with in our population area until we do not have a large space and special technical knowledge/abilities to tame them and groom them.

    I don’t know but somewhere in my spirit, keeping this wild huge cat within the home, gives me RED ALERT LIGHTS. I don’t know but it does. Maybe I am wrong, please guide <3

    Thank you again for an informative article so much in detail, though some info still missing πŸ™‚

  5. Lovely. I checked out the A1 Savannah site a few days ago. The new owners seem to be breeding more silvers than the golden-brown Savannahs. I still would like to visit them… one day, hopefully soon! πŸ™‚ Have you spoken with the new owners, Michael?

  6. She is a beautiful cat! She gives me the impression that she is more domestic than wild for some reason. Do you know how her previous family came by her? I think I’ve heard you mention Serena before.

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