Distribution of Servals, African Golden Cats and Caracals
The three cats of the Caracal lineage occur predominantly in Africa with one of the cat's range extending into south west Asia. Although these closely related cats are similar sized and hunt similar types of prey, they occupy different habitats and rarely overlap at the local level. The Serval (Leptailurus serval) occupies the moister grasslands and wetlands, the African Golden Cat (Caracal aurata) only occurs in the rainforests of the central equatorial region and the Caracal (Caracal caracal) is found mainly in the savanna and semi-arid habitats.
Click on the maps for a detailed description of the countries and habitat types that each cat is found in.
Status: Least Concern
Status: Vulnerable
Status: Least Concern
Status of Servals, African Golden Cats and Caracals
Both Servals and Caracals are abundant and widespread throughout their range and their Red List status is Least Concern. However, both species become less numerous in the northern countries of their distribution. The Red List status for the African Golden Cat is Vulnerable and this cat occurs at low densities within its densely forested habitat, where it is difficult to assess animal populations.
Note that there is a global IUCN Red List status which applies to the species across its entire range, whereas further assessments may be conducted at smaller regional levels and might determine a different status. Individual countries may also conduct assessments either using the IUCN Red List methodology or have their own internal methodology with different status ranking and terminology. Regional assessments are usually published on the IUCN Red List website, however individual country assessments are usually published on that country's environmental authority website.
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Number of Servals
Serval cats are widespread in the wetter habitats of sub-Saharan Africa, occurring in 40 countries across all five African regions.
As at the last global assessment in 2014, there were no estimates of the total area occupied by Servals, nor any estimates of global population numbers, however based on the research data available, their status was rated as Least Concern.
In the Mediterranean assessment of 2008, which only includes the countries of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, Servals were rated as Critically Endangered with an estimate of fewer than 250 individuals.
In South Africa's assessment in 2016, Servals were rated as Near Threatened in that region. Area of occupancy was estimated between approximately 19,000 km2 and 210,000 km2 with a population of mature individuals between 4,509 and 13,654 with a continuing decline predicted, linked mainly to loss of wetland habitat.
Number of African Golden Cats
African Golden Cats occur in 14 African countries primarily across the central and western equatorial belt of tropical forests.
As at the last global assessment in 2014, their status was rated as Vulnerable due to estimated population declines linked to deforestation. The estimated extent of occurrence is approximately 4.1 million km2, but no estimated area of occupancy could be calculated within that extent, and no population numbers could be determined. African Golden Cats have been recorded from sea level to 3.600 meters.
Number of Caracals
Caracal cats are widespread in Africa occurring in 41 countries across all five African regions as well as a further 19 countries through the Middle East to south west Asia. They have been recorded from sea level up to 3300 meters. As at their last global assessment in 2014 the estimated extent of the Caracal occurrence is approximately 51 million km2 and occupancy approximately 17 million km2. Across this vast range it is very difficult to estimate their population numbers and there is currently no estimated population data at the global level, nevertheless according to the available research Caracals are rated as Least Concern.
In the last Mediterranean regional assessment conducted in 2008, which only includes a few countries along the north coast of Africa and along the Mediterranean coast of Europe and the Middle East, Caracals were rated as Near Threatened, with an estimated population of 2,500 to 10,000 individuals.
A country level assessment was conducted in South Africa in 2016, and the Caracal population estimate in that region was between 45,000 and 150,000 individuals, depending on local densities (0.15 – 0.5 individual / km2), thus their status was rated as Least Concern.
