Editing Serval (section)

===Reproduction===
[[File:Servals Thoiry 19801.jpg|thumb|left|Two young servals]]
Both sexes become [[sexually mature]] when they are one to two years old. [[Oestrus]] in females lasts one to four days; it typically occurs once or twice a year, though it can occur three or four times a year if the mother loses her litters.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Wackernagel|first1=H.|title=A note on breeding the serval cat ''Felis serval'' at Basle Zoo|journal=International Zoo Yearbook|date=1968|volume=8|issue=1|pages=46–47|doi=10.1111/j.1748-1090.1968.tb00433.x}}</ref> Observations of captive servals suggest that when a female enters oestrus, the rate of urine-marking increases in her as well as the males in her vicinity. Zoologist [[Jonathan Kingdon]] described the behavior of a female serval in oestrus in his 1997 book ''East African Mammals''. He noted that she would roam restlessly, spray urine frequently holding her vibrating tail in a vertical manner, rub her head near the place she has marked, salivate continuously, give out sharp and short "miaow"s that can be heard for quite a distance, and rub her mouth and cheeks against the face of an approaching male. The time when mating takes place varies geographically; births peak in winter in Botswana, and toward the end of the dry season in the [[Ngorongoro Crater]]. A trend generally observed across the range is that births precede the breeding season of [[Muridae|murid]] rodents.<ref name=WCoW/>

[[Gestation]] lasts for two to three months, following which a litter of one to four kittens is born. Births take place in secluded areas, for example in dense vegetation or burrows abandoned by aardvarks and porcupines. Blind at birth, newborns weigh nearly {{convert|250|g|oz|0|abbr=on}} and have soft, woolly hair (greyer than in adults) and unclear markings. The eyes open after nine to thirteen days. Weaning begins a month after birth; the mother brings small kills to her kittens and calls out to them as she approaches the "den".<ref name=WCoW/> A mother with young kittens rests for a notably lesser time and has to spend almost twice the time and energy for hunting than do other servals.<ref name=Geertsema/> If disturbed, the mother shifts her kittens one by one to a more secure place.<ref name="Skinner">{{cite book |year=2005 |title=The mammals of the southern African subregion |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521844185 |editor1-last=Skinner |editor1-first=J. D. |editor2-last=Chimimba |editor2-first=C. T. |edition=Third |last1=Mills |first1=M. G. L. |chapter=Genus ''Leptailurus'' Severtzov, 1858 |pages=408–412 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iqwEYkTDZf4C&pg=PA408}}</ref> Kittens eventually start accompanying their mother to hunts. At around six months, they acquire their permanent [[canine teeth|canine]]s and begin to hunt themselves; they leave their mother at about 12 months of age. They may reach sexual maturity from 12 to 25 months of age.<ref name=WCoW/> Life expectancy is about 10 years in the wild and up to 20 years in captivity.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Tonkin |first=B. A. |year=1972 |title=Notes on longevity in three species of felids |journal=International Zoo Yearbook |volume=12 |doi=10.1111/j.1748-1090.1972.tb02319.x |pages=181–182}}</ref>