“She’s a feisty little one.”
During a stretch of heavy rain and flooding in South Africa, a local property owner noticed a tiny kitten alone outside in the storm. The baby was in an exposed area with no shelter, and at first glance, she looked like a helpless stray cat.
But when the property owner looked more closely, they realized she wasn’t a regular kitten.
She was a baby serval — a small wild cat species native to the region.
Because she was wild, the property owner did not want to interfere too quickly. They hoped her mother might return once the danger passed, so they watched and waited. But after 48 hours with no sign of the mother, they knew the little serval needed help.
They contacted Emma de Jager, founder of Umoya Khulula Wildlife Centre, and the rescue team stepped in. De Jager believes the serval’s den may have flooded during the storm, or the baby may have somehow become separated from her mother.
Thankfully, the kitten was now safe.
Even after being stranded for so long, the tiny serval still had plenty of fight in her. Rescuers quickly realized she was strong-willed, feisty and not at all interested in becoming friendly with humans.
For a domestic kitten, that might sound worrying. But for a wild serval, it was exactly what rescuers hoped to see.
De Jager and her team plan to handle the kitten as little as possible so she can keep her natural instincts and remain afraid of people. Since the goal is to return her to the wild, it is important that she does not become too comfortable around humans.
The baby serval is already eating solid food and settling into care. Behind her cute face are the instincts of a wild hunter, and her rescuers want to make sure those instincts stay sharp.
She will likely remain at the wildlife center for several months before beginning a soft release process. That will allow rescuers to make sure she can cope on her own before fully returning to the wild.
The center has cared for servals before, but many of those cases involve young wild cats rescued from the pet trade. This kitten’s story is different — she was found in the wild, and her rescuers are hopeful she can return there.
Servals belong in grasslands, wetlands and savannas, not in homes as pets. With her fierce spirit and strong will to survive, this little serval has a very good chance of one day running free again.