Honolulu Zoo Receives A New Serval

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Honolulu Zoo Receives A New Serval
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Honolulu Zoo receives a new serval

Lina, the new serval.

HONOLULU – 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.”

About the Honolulu Zoo:

The mission of the Honolulu Zoo is to inspire stewardship of our living world by providing meaningful conservation education and experiences to our community. The Zoo emphasizes the Pacific Tropical ecosystems and our values of mālama (caring) and hoʻokipa (hospitality).

The Honolulu Zoo is a 42-acre facility with approximately 800 animals and 80 staff. It is one of only two U.S. zoos with an open air, tropical climate facility year-round. The Honolulu Zoo is also a botanical garden with a growing native plant collection. The flora in the zoo are grown to provide habitat and buffer zones for the animals, as well as shade and food. Grounds keeping staff maintain growth to safely and properly support and enhance exhibit areas. The zoo composts its animal and plant waste and uses it to keep plants healthy. Two of the zoo’s support partners, the Honolulu Zoo Society and Service Systems Associates, contribute tremendously to the zoo’s conservation efforts. Staff maintain, manage, check, assess, repair, and improve exhibits and grounds every day of the year. Staff daily uphold USDA and AZA standards. Squirt the giraffe has recently been voted the mayor of Honolulu Zoo.

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First Friday Hawaii News Item

Honolulu Zoo Receives A New Serval

First Friday Hawaii
News Item