I was shooting at the Zoo with the EOS R5 and the RF 100-500, hand-held. One of the most elusive creatures is the Serval, a slender, medium-sized cat that stands 54–62 cm (21–24 in) at the shoulder and weighs 9–18 kg (20–40 lb). It is characterised by a small head, large ears, a golden-yellow to buff coat spotted and striped with black, and a short, black-tipped tail. The serval has the longest legs of any cat relative to its body size.
The serval is a solitary carnivore, native to sub-Saharan Africa and active both by day and at night. It preys on rodents, small birds, frogs, insects, and reptiles. It has amazingly strong hearing which makes it a challenge to shoot because it does not like noisy humans, so it tends to turn its large ears away. It also tends to hide most of the time behind obstructions, so it is relatively rare to see it out in the open.
On this occasion I spotted it hidden in the undergrowth, excellently camouflaged by its striped coat. Because of the intervening vegetation it was barely discernable, but the R5's animal eye tracking nailed it. I used single point focus, servo along with eye tracking, so that it seeks the smallest zone possible.
Here is the full image:
This is a heavily cropped version of the same image to give a close-up of the eye
