The history of the breed of Bengal cats
History Bengal cats begins in the US in 1961. The author of the breed was Jean Mill (Sugden then still). Jean Mill was a genetic-biologist by training. And in student's years dealt with the problem of breeding cats. The theme of one of her working was the possibility of crossing Siamese and Persian cats. The result of this crossing was to be very curious a cat-Panda. After graduating from University, Jean Mill continued breeding work with Persian cats. She was one of the first to support the breeding of Himalayan cats.
In 1961, Jean Mill mill was on a business trip in Southeast Asia, in Bangkok. The nature of this region represented a natural habitat for Felis bengalensis wild cats, similar in size to domestic cats. At that time, the species was on the verge of extinction due to poaching, adult animals were exterminated in view of the value of their skins, and small kittens were sold to tourists at the local market as living Souvenirs. Jean Mill got the kitten and brought to the United States, giving the cat a name Malaysia.
Raised at home, Malaysia had the character of a wild animal. She was wary, careful, took no affection and did not go on contact, preferred solitude, though, and showed no aggression. For Sleeped she climbed higher to be out of reach. But Malaysia received the attentions a black tomcat that lived near Jean Mill. And as a result of this interbreeding, to everyone's surprise, in 1963 was born a viable healthy hybrid cat with a spotted color, inherited from the mother, called Kin-Kin. Jean Mill decided to work on breeding a breed of cats that look like exotic forest predators, but have the temper of Pets. So, when Kin-Kin grew up, in the absence of other applicants, it tied with the black house cat. In this work, the Jean Mill on the creation of special cats were interrupted in connection with the death of her first husband. Malaysia was attached to a zoo, and Kin-Kin died, unable to cope with pneumonia.
15 years later,Jean Mill (now Mill) learned about a comparative study of the immunity of wild and domestic cats conducted in the laboratory of the University of California in the United States. In the course of which scientists have discovered that some wild cats are immune to feline leukemia virus. It remained to find out whether this is innate immunity or acquired in the course of a cat's life in the wild. For this research were conducted interspecies crossing wild leopard cats and domestic cats various breeds. Jean Mill addressed the head of the research group Willard Centervale with a request to give her a few female first-generation hybrids (F1) and got 9 females. This started serious work on the creation of the home, in the full sense of the word, the Bengal cat.
In the process of rock formation F1 hybrid females mated with domestic cats of different breeds, among them Burma and Mau. In 1982, Jean Mill successfully acquired a small wild cat with a spotted Golden-orange color, never before encountered in domestic cats. She found it in one of the zoos in new Delhi (India). However, the kitten was without a tail. Brought the cat home, Jean Mill gave him the nickname Delhi and registered him in the CFA (Cat Fanciers Association) as an experimental Mau.
Growing up, Delhi became the most suitable groom for cats Jean Mill. All kittens have appeared from his, had an glow of wool, the so-called glitter, which is fixed in the Bengal breed. Jean Mill continued to actively work to create the cat of your dreams. The difficulty was that the males of the first 3 hybrid generations in 70-80 % infertile. In addition, not all kittens differed beautiful leopard rosettes. Jean Mill was involved in its breeding using Bengal tomcats of India. In 1991, the Bengal cats took part in the TICA championship for the first time. Jean Mill showed the world the gentle creation concluded in a wild fur coat.
To date, the Bengal breed has been recognized by almost all felinological organizations.In the representatives of this breed are attracted to the leopard cat color. Saturated spots of black or chocolate color on a Golden-orange background attract the eye. The wool of Bengal cats feels like a valuable fur is fur, short and soft. The body is muscular, strong, stretched in length, having a strong backbone, small eyes on a large head, powerful legs (hind legs are longer than the front). Cats are slimmer and more elegant, tomcats are stronger and more muscular. Bengal cats movements are full of grace. His whole appearance they resemble leopards.