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Profile | Nenkani

Serval cat laying in dried pine needles, looking up at camera. you can see her toe beans on one foot!
  • Birthday
    Female, March 13, 2019
  • Species
    Serval
    Leptailurus serval
  • Professor of
    Spots and ears
  • Field of Study
    Grass, water, and sky
  • Food and Vet Care
    $275 per month | $3300 each year

About the species

RANGE | It is rare in North Africa and the Sahel, but widespread in wetter habitats throughout sub-Saharan countries. They are absent from the central tropical rainforests and the deserts in the north and south west.

FUN FACTS | Servals are very shy small cats found in Africa, most closely related to the caracal. Small cats can purr but nor roar. Servals have very tall legs- the longest legs proportionately to their body size of all cats. These long legs raise the cats’ body above water as they stand in ponds and watering holes to catch fish. These long legs also enable them to leap 6-8 feet into the air to capture a bird flying low. Servals have the largest ears for the size of their body so can hunt for rodents in the grass by using their hearing, locating it in the grass or underground. Instead of using speed to chase down their prey, like a serval, servals are primarily ambush predators and use those long legs to leap, grab birds in the air or grab a mouse from an underground burrow. Servals are generalists, meaning they do not specialize in just one kind of prey. They are such incredibly adaptable hunters that they are more successful than most predators.

Meet Nenkani

Nenkani was born at a wildlife park, where her mom lives as an ambassador. She was one of three in that litter. Her mom wasn’t producing enough milk for all three kittens, so they left her with one to raise and pulled the two others out to be bottle-fed by the hospital staff, so she needed a home.

Nenkani is SUCH a kitten. To her, everything is a toy—stuffed animals, dog toys, sticks, balls, leaves—she loves all of it! And if you can put it in water, it is twice as much fun!

Likes

Big toys, small toys, stuffed toys, plastic toys—she loves them all! WIth Nenkani, waterproof toys are advised because everything ends up in her pool or her water bucket. She also loves anything and everything new. She uses her furniture to rest on—and play under—so new play structures and platforms would add a new level of stimulation to her enclosure. As a cat, she loves tubes and boxes that she can fit in, on, or under. Plastic chains and dowels to hang toys give her a reason to leap in the air, a natural behavior for servals, and she loves it!

Wishlist

  • Heavy duty dog toys
    by Kong, Vitscan, Hugglehounds, Ho-lee Roller balls, goDog, oneisall, JollyPets, Dogzilla eggs, different shapes/sizes of BoomerBalls, LPHNSUR ToughDogChews or others made for chewers, and the hide-and-seek toys by ZippyPaws
  • Feeder puzzles
    designed for dogs
  • Play structures
    toddler play structures, kitchens, playhouses, workbenches, and picnic tables
  • Water toys
    by Outward Hound, Chuckit Bumper, ZippyPaws Floatiez, or Kong
  • Travel carrier
    to leave in enclosure for evac training