Servals are medium-sized African wild cats increasingly kept in zoos and private collections, with welfare depending on large territories, hunting enrichment, and appropriate social conditions.
Serval welfare in captivity requires careful attention to the predatory and spatial needs of a specialist hunter. Their defining behaviour — the explosive vertical leap to catch flushed prey — cannot be expressed in small enclosures, and denial of hunting behaviour leads to frustration and stereotypic pacing. Enclosures must include tall grass or vegetation that allows natural stalk-and-pounce sequences, varied terrain, and sufficient size for running. Live or complex feeding enrichment that requires hunting effort is essential. Servals held as private pets often live in wholly inappropriate conditions — house environments prevent prey-catching behaviour, inappropriate diets cause nutritional disorders, and solitary confinement without proper enrichment causes chronic stress. Declawing, sometimes practised by private owners to reduce scratching damage, causes lasting pain and removes a fundamental aspect of the animal's physical identity. The exotic pet trade in servals is a significant welfare concern; demand drives capture or breeding of animals that cannot thrive outside their natural environment.