Population numbers, density and activity patterns of servals in savannah patches of Odzala-Kokoua National Park, Republic of Congo

Despite its wide distribution in continental Africa, the serval (Leptailurus serval Schreber) has received relatively little scientific attention so far. We did camera-trapping in the forest-savannah mosaic of the Odzala-Kokoua National Park, Republic of Congo. The park's savannahs represent the northernmost extension of the savannahs of the Bateke Plateaux, a large ecoregion of open habitat in Central Africa. During 8 months of camera-trapping, we recorded 51 individuals. Almost two-thirds of individuals recorded belonged to the servaline morph, with a pattern mutation of small "freckled" spots. Using maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian spatially explicit capture-recapture methods serval density was 7.7-9.8 individuals/100 km(2). ML analyses favoured a model with trap placement and gender as covariates. Serval males were largely nocturnal whereas females were mainly diurnal. Differences in activity patterns were likely related to the occurrence of spotted hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta Erxleben). Spotted hyaenas were highly nocturnal and, consequently, had a higher overlap in activity patterns with male servals. Our study provided the first robust density estimates for this medium-sized carnivore in Central Africa. To achieve sufficient precision in density estimates, we recommend that future studies also include individual and trap placement covariates in analyses.