History Of The Bengal Cat

Originally christened the Leopardette, the Bengal is a hybridisation of domestic cats & Asian Leopard Cats (a small wild cat). In 1963 Jean Sudgen of Yuma, Arizona purchased a female Asian Leopard cat (named Malaysia) from a pet store. Believing the cat to be lonely, she put a black domestic cat in her cage for company. The animals mated & produced two kittens, a male & a female called KinKin. Sadly, the male was fatally mauled by Malaysia but KinKin was safely removed & raised by a Himalayan queen.

Jean contacted Cornell University who predicted that KinKin would be sterile. This proved to be incorrect when KinKin was mated back to her father and delivered two kittens. A black female & a spotted male. Due to the sudden death of her husband this project was abandoned.

In 1980 Jean contacted geneticist Dr Willard Centerwall who was working on a breeding programme which involved crossing Leopard Cats with domestic cats. This was part of a study of Feline Leukaemia. Jean Sudgen (now living in California & remarried as Jean Mill) obtained several F1 (the F stands for Filial) hybrids from this programme.

While in India in 1982 Jean & her husband came across a tailless feral domestic male with markings similar to that of the leopard. He had been living in a rhino enclosure at Delhi zoo. Jean imported this cat (named Millwood Tory of Delhi) back to the United States & he was mated with the female hybrids. Other domestic breeds were used in the breeding programme including Ocicats, Egyptian Maus, Abyssinians, Bombays & British Shorthairs. The breed obtained official recognition with TICA in 1984.

The Asian Leopard Cat

Physical characteristics:   

On average, the Leopard Cat is as large as a Domestic Cat, but there are considerable regional differences: in Indonesia the average size is 45 cm (18 in), plus 20 cm (8 in) tail, while it is 60 cm/40 cm (24/16 in) in the Amur region. The shoulder height is 41 cm (16 in) and the weight is 4.5-6.8 kg (10-15 lbs), similar in size to a Domestic Cat. The fur is also quite variable: it is yellow in the southern populations, but silver-grey in the northern ones. The chest and the lower part of the head are white. The Leopard Cat bears black markings that may be - dependent on the subspecies - spots or rosettes. It has litters of 2 to 4 kittens and the gestation period can vary from 65 to 70 days.

 

 

 

Habitat and behavior:  

The habitat of this feline is forests and rainforests both in low and mountainous areas, but usually not arid areas. It lives close to watercourses and may be found in heights up to 3000 m. The Leopard Cat can climb trees skillfully. It is also able to swim, but will seldom do so. This cat is nocturnal, and during the day it spends its time in dens that may be hollow trees, cavities under roots, or caves. It spends time out during the day in areas where there are no humans. The Leopard Cat is solitary, except during breeding season. There is no fixed breeding period in the southern part of its range; in the colder northern parts it tends to breed around March or April, when the weather is nice enough to support newborn kittens. The estrus period lasts for 5-9 days. After a gestation period of 9-10 weeks, two to three kittens are born in a den, and there they will remain until they are a month old. They open their eyes at ten days old, and start to eat solid food at 23 days. If the kittens are killed the mother can come into heat again and have another litter that year.

History Of The Bengal Cat Sourced from - http://www.genesisanimals.com/

The Asian Leopard Cat Sourced from - http://en.wikipedia.org/

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