Honolulu Zoo welcomes Lina the serval

The Honolulu Zoo is happy to welcome a new female serval from Florida. Lina was born on April 7, 2014 and was transferred to the Honolulu Zoo on February 24, 2021 from another accredited zoo in the Association for Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) network. Lina has been raised as a program animal and is comfortable around free-flying birds. As the zoo only has one serval, she is currently allowed to quarantine on exhibit housed in the walk-in bird aviary in the African Savanna where she can enjoy neighboring birds. 

Servals are wild cats native to Africa. They are slender and medium-sized cats weighing approximately 20-40 pounds. Servals have the longest legs of any cat relative to its body size. They are known to have large ears with markings on each ear resembling eyes. They are golden-yellow with spots and stripes and a short, black-tipped tail. 

Servals are solitary carnivores, preying on rodents, small birds, insects and reptiles. They are hunted for their pelts and are no longer found in areas with heavy populations. Their lifespan in the wild is between 19-23 years. They are listed as Least Concern on the IUCN red list.

“We are very excited to have a serval at the Honolulu Zoo once again,” said Honolulu Zoo Director Linda Santos. “It expands our variety of animals in our savanna. Our last serval, Felix, was very popular and encouraged the public to understand more about wild cat conservation.”