BENGAL HISTORY
Asian leopard cat
The bengal was developed in a
atempt to combine the look of the wild asian cat with the temperement
of a domestic.In America the first intentional and controlled
hybridization of the domestic cat and the wild asian leopard
was done by Jean Mill in 1965 in Arizona.Progeny from that
breed were carried to the third generation, but none of that
blood line exists today.During the 1970's several U.S breeders
began breeding Bengal foundation stock and the name bengal
was adopted as the official name of the breed.In the early
1980's two different Bengal bloodlines were begun by Ms Mill
she and other enthusiasts joined forces, their efforts established
the breed standard and registration was undertaken by TICA.In
1990 Bengals were accepted by TICA for championship competition
in their shows.
The first Generation Bengal cats
were hybrids, that is to say from two different species, the
hybrid offspring of a mating of those two species is referred
to as the F1 generation.Males of the F1 generation are sterile,
Therefore in the development of Bengals a F1 was bred to a
domestic cat, producing F2 kittens.F2 bengals were bred to
other bengals or other domestic cats to produce F3. Those animal
registered as F1, F2, F3 are not able to be shown in championships
and are registered as experimental.Bengals of the F4 and beyond
are acceptable as family pets and maybe shown in competition.
