The Bengal Cat originates from a domestic cat (Abyssinian, American Shorthair, Burmese, or Egyptian Mau) and a Asian Leopard Cat (ALC). During the 1960's researchers such as California's Jean Sugden (now Jean Mills) were studying cat related diseases such as leukaemia and other cancer related viruses. It was noted that wild cat types such as the lion and tiger were immune to some of these diseases. The wild Asian Leopard Cat was bred to the common house cat in an effort to study the immune defences of the wild cat family to these diseases.
In 1963 Jean Sugden (Mills) crossed a female ALC and a male black domestic cat, the results were a mixture of solid and spotted kittens. One of the spotted female offspring was then mated back to the father and the resulting litter had spotted kittens. This was the beginning of the Bengal, but didn't progress as Jean Sugden had become a widow.
In the 1970's Jean Sugden acquired 8 female ALC/Domestic offspring from the University of California. The cats were the result of a project to investigate the ALC's natural immunity to Feline Leukaemia. It was from this moment on that the Bengal was established and the Bengal Breed was finally registered with the TICA (The International Cat Association) in 1983, with the first to be shown in 1985 in the New Breed/Colour Class.
The Bengal is a unique breed of cat in that it is the only spotted breed which is directly descended from a wild ancestor. This gorgeous ancestor is the Asian Leopard Cat (ALC). The domestic Bengal gets its name from the Asian Leopard Cat's scientific name (Felis bengalensis). The goal in producing the Bengal is to recreate the look of its wild ancestor the ALC in a domestic cat. |
