We were extremely fortunate to see a melanistic serval hunting in the tall grasses of the Serengeti this spring!
First an image I created in 2017 in Kenya of a typical serval. The following images are of the melanistic serval. Almost the entire time the serval was hunting through dense and very tall grasses, making it difficult to focus on the eye and get a decent shot of the cat. The servals capture prey by leaping in the air and landing on the prey with all four paws. As far as I know, I am the only one who captured the leap in our group of 12, including the pro leading the trip! When the serval landed, it was totally obscured by the grasses.
Stunning images of a very rare sighting Karen, great job! In ten trips I've never seen this, actually only saw any serval twice overall so this is amazing! The only other melanistic shot I've seen was from Marc Mol who occasionally posts here, he works as a pro often in the Serengeti.
Great images - I love them, Karen! I was also fortunate enough to see and photograph albeit a regular serval cat that while in Serengeti several years ago. I am sure that melanism among them is rare.
There have been two prior posts on this site of black Servals. https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1619307/0
The second one was referenced by Conebeam in the thread above but does not seem to be available any longer. It was a French(?) expedition to find the black Serval. Maybe someone knows how to get to that thread. Hobbes concluded it was the same Serval.
Bobg657 wrote:
Stunning images of a very rare sighting Karen, great job! In ten trips I've never seen this, actually only saw any serval twice overall so this is amazing! The only other melanistic shot I've seen was from Marc Mol who occasionally posts here, he works as a pro often in the Serengeti.
Thanks for sharing,
BOB
Thanks, Bob! Our tour leader/Canon pro has led tours to Africa for 20 years....and doesn't have a good image of a serval!
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kdacharya wrote:
sweet shots of an incredible find, thanks for sharing.
Thank you!
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AGeoJO wrote:
Great images - I love them, Karen! I was also fortunate enough to see and photograph albeit a regular serval cat that while in Serengeti several years ago. I am sure that melanism among them is rare.
Joshua
Appreciate the comments, Joshua!
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louie champan wrote:
Incredible find Karen, and you've done a super job with all of these images.
Thanks so much, Louie!
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stanparker wrote:
Way to go, Karen, fortune favors talent.
Hi, Stan! Thanks!
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Dave_E wrote:
Very nice Karen. We didn't come across one of these when we were in the Serengeti last year. Great shots
Dave
Our Tanzanian drivers were going crazy at this sighting. THEY had never seen a melanistic serval before, although they had heard from others that it was in that general area.
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KCollett wrote:
Darned nice set, Karen.
Thanks so mcuh!
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bobbytan wrote:
Really stunning capture of seldom seen animals! Great job, Karen!
Thank you! The tall grasses were a real challenge, but hey, that is their environment! !
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dallvr wrote:
Terrific capture of what must be a very rare animal!
Thanks!
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kmunroe wrote:
very nice set Karen
Thanks!
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dclark wrote:
Great find. Your images are excellent!
There have been two prior posts on this site of black Servals. https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1619307/0
The second one was referenced by Conebeam in the thread above but does not seem to be available any longer. It was a French(?) expedition to find the black Serval. Maybe someone knows how to get to that thread. Hobbes concluded it was the same Serval.
Dave
Thank you! Appreciate the info, Dave.
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surfnron wrote:
Great work and a rare find Karen ~ Ron
It was a very tough trip, but this experience got our adrenalin flowing!
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Terrific experience I would say, you once again prove how lucky you are! your favorite image is also my pick. I have never seen a melanistic serval! YGMV
juankgigo wrote:
Terrific experience I would say, you once again prove how lucky you are! your favorite image is also my pick. I have never seen a melanistic serval! YGMV
Thank you Juan Carlos! It was indeed a lucky sighting.....but the pro and 11 others missed the action shot! ! Imagine what I might have created during my limited opportunities with the bats at night!
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Hotspur wrote:
Great photos.
Thank you so much for commenting!
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nugeny wrote:
great find, great photos. I have been in Africa so many times and never got so lucky. Thanks for showing.
So nice of you to comment! This was our 3rd trip to Africa....and very much the hardest!
!