about: bengal cat, bengal kittens, asian leopard cat, felis Bengalensis
The
Bengal
breed
found
its
beginning
in
the
name
of
science.
In
the
late
1960s
and
early
1970s,
Feline
Leukemia
plagued
the
domestic
feline
population.
Since
the
Asian
Leopard
Cat is immune to the disease, a study was
conducted to determine
if the genetics that protected
the
Asian
Leopard
Cat were transferrable to the household cat through hybridization. While the
experiment
didn’t
produce the
desired
result, the
Bengal is as susceptible to
Feline
Leukemia as
the
domestic
cat, it led
to the
creation of
the Bengal
breed.
ALC Elias of Callista
Asian Leopard Cat (ALC), Felis Bengalensis
Photo courtesy of Julie Calderon
Jean
saw
the
hybridization
of
the
Asian
Leopard
Cat
as
a
way
to
minimize
the
exploitation
of
small spotted
wild
cats
for
fur
and
to
offer
an
alternative
to
people
keeping
illegal
wild
cats
as
pets.
In addition,
she hoped
that if these
spotted cats
became
popular, it
would
decrease
people’s
desire for
real furs as
fashion, as
one
would not want to
wear the cats
they have as
pets.
Thus, the Bengal was created to help save the small wild cat populations.
The beginnings of the Bengal
cat were not easy. Jean Mill, along with Greg and Elizabeth Kent, worked for many years to create and popularize the breed. Finally, in 1986,
TICA
accepted the offspring four or more generations down from the Asian Leopard Cat as a new breed known as the Bengal. Today, the breed accounts for more TICA litter registrations than any other breed of cats.
If Jean Mill’s goal was to popularize the breed, she was most certainly successful.
Millwood Tory of Delhi (left), domestic male who was used by Jean Mill with early F1 females to introduce glitter into the breed.
