Bengal  History

The domestic Bengal cat of today can trace its history back to experimental crosses between the wild Asian Leopard Cat  (felis bengalensis ) and various domestic cats including the Egyptian Mau, Abyssinian, Ocicat and American Shorthair breeds.  It all began when Jean Sugden of Arizona acquired a female Asian Leopard Cat from a local pet shop and named her Malaysia .  In 1963 she put an ordinary black domestic tomcat in with  Malaysia  for company.  Jean didn’t even realize that Malaysia was pregnant and was thrilled when a spotted daughter, Kin Kin, was  born.  Later Kin Kin was mated back to her father and produced more kittens.  Unfortunately Jean became widowed and was unable to keep  Malaysia who was sent to the San Diego Zoo.  Malaysia ’s hybrid offspring eventually died and Jean’s early  Bengal project ended.  However, her dream of producing a spotted domestic leopard cat was still alive. 

In 1980, Jean Mill (now remarried) restarted her project when she heard of a geneticist, Dr. Willard Centerwall, at the  University of California  who had been doing research with first generation ALC hybrids.  Jean acquired a number of these F1 hybrids.  Two of these female hybrids, Praline and Pennybank, can be found in the pedigrees of many  Bengal cats today.  Virtually all Bengals go back to ALC Centerwall if you go back far enough. Then in 1982, while on a trip to India , Jean visited the  New Delhi Zoo.  The curator took her to a small shed to see a beautiful spotted feral domestic kitten under a sick rhinoceros.  Here was the answer to her need for a stud for her first generation (F1)  Queens .  Millwood Tori of Delhi had beautiful emerald green eyes, small dark brown distinct all over  spots on a thick glistening golden orange coat such as had never been seen before on a domestic cat.  Delhi ’s unique sparkling pelt (now called “glitter”) is highly valued in today’s Bengal cats and the  Bengal is still the only domestic cat with this wonderful luminous quality. 

Over the next few years Jean continued to produce more beautiful hybrid Bengals and then, in 1987, came another exciting surprise.  One of her third generation (F3) cats, Silk ‘n Cinders, gave birth to an unusual new kind of kitten.  This new little girl had a spectacular swirled marble pattern that reminded Jean of drizzled caramel.  She was an instant success and thus the marbles were included in the Bengal registry.  The stunning marble pattern was due to a recessive gene from the classic tabby pattern of earlier crosses between Asian Leopard Cats and domestic shorthairs.  When the marbles were bred to spotted Bengals, the results produced outlined rosettes with horizontal flow.  In 1989 Asian Leopard Cat Kabuki entered the Millwood breeding program and produced many beautiful daughters.  Many current  Bengal bloodlines can be traced back to Kabuki (pictured at right).  Another early famous ALC line is Baghara/Sergura Khan also known as the Kent ALC (pictured at left)

In time, many more breeders were inspired to produce the unique leopard-like  Bengal cat and over the years new ALC bloodlines have been added such as Taro of Bundas.  In the early years, many worried about the temperament of the  Bengal cat due to its wild heritage.  Therefore, Bengals have been, and still are, selectively bred for sweet nature and gentle temperaments while retaining the intelligence, look and unique behavioral characteristics of their wild ancestor. 

  Photos  courtesy of  TIBCS--Photo of Taro courtesy of Grace Lush