This Long-Legged African Cat Is Turning Up in Unexpected Places

With towering legs, oversized ears and a coat normally covered in dark spots, the serval already looks unlike almost every other wild cat. Its rare black form is even more striking, sometimes appearing almost completely dark except for faint markings visible in strong light.

Melanistic servals were traditionally associated with cool, shadowy highlands in East Africa. Repeated observations in Kenya’s brighter, drier Tsavo ecosystem have now complicated that assumption—and scientists still cannot fully explain why so many are being recorded there.