Should I get a serval?

OMG it's horrible I'd ask you to lock it in the kitchen when I came round if I knew you.

Servals are categorised as dangerous animals under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976, and require a licence to be kept privately. Born Free is very concerned by the risk these and other dangerous wild animals pose when kept as pets or used for birthday parties, 'cuddle' sessions and 'meet and greets'. No matter how domesticated they may become, a serval cat will always be a wild animal at heart and does not make a good pet.

Would it be able to thrive in a Manhattan apartment?

Serval cats are wild animals. Native to many parts of Africa, serval cats roam savannahs and wetlands hunting for prey. They have a poor quality of life when kept as pets.

Serval cats are strong, fast and have an incredible capacity for jumping. In the wild, servals will leap high into the air to catch flying birds, and can slap fish hard enough to stun them. They are not easily house-trained, and will frequently mark their territory with urine. It is extremely challenging to provide for the nutritional and veterinary needs of a wild cat like a serval in captivity.

They are difficult to contain in a home or enclosure setting, and pose a risk to their keepers and the public, and even native wildlife if they escape. Their own safety is also in jeopardy in captivity. Escaped servals have died by being hit by cars or of starvation since they never had the opportunity to learn how to hunt.

No. They should not be kept as pets.

The serval is NOT a domestic cat.

Even the savannah cat that is a cross between a serval and domestic cat is often too wild for most people to handle.

Off/topic: what are the DL thoughts about wolf-dogs? Supposedly a dog that is bred with an actual wolf? My gut reaction is to not approve but I admittedly know nothing about having one etc.

By all means OP!!! If you're a cruel selfish narcissist.

For such people it's the perfect present for themselves: a genetically wild animal that will be bored witless by solitary domestic enclosure, and lack of 8 hours of daily stimulus, into psychosis and depression.

OP You may be better off with a Bengal Cat or a Savannah Cat, but both are a real handful.

The best thing you could do is go a a cat rescue centre and adopt a kitten or cat from them.

We had one but it attacked my grandmother while she was napping in her chair and now she has a plastic ear.

Domestic house cats have plenty of energy, OP. And are just as beautiful.

As for wolf dogs, not a good idea. They don’t know their own strength.

[quote] what are the DL thoughts about wolf-dogs?

I guess my counter question would be Why? In business language I would ask for a use case. In a home/pet environment, I wouldn't know what the mix would do better or more effectively. I just cannot see a task or purpose a wolf-dog could do better than a specialized dog breed. Same in the cat world. The serval just doesn't seem to fill a niche in humans' lives that specialized domesticated breeds cannot fill better.

Grandma got run over by a serval.

Get one, OP!

Maybe you could arrange with your local animal shelter to give you the bodies of unwanted euthanized cats to feed to your serval.

[quote] As for wolf dogs, not a good idea. They don’t know their own strength.

Neither did I!

[quote] I guess my counter question would be Why? In business language I would ask for a use case

They do look really close to a real wolves. And they are big. I’m not arguing for breeding them. I’m just sharing what the owners I’ve seen seem to like about them.