Mrs. Jean Mill was the breeder of the Bengal Cat in the early 1960s. Her goal was to create a new kind combining the exotic, wild looking Asian Leopard Cat (ALC) with the friendly domestic cat. The planned breeding of the Bengal Cat only began in the 1980s with the enthusiastic work of Jean Suggen and Dr. William Canterwall. They also involved several breeds in the breeding process, including Abessin, Burma, Tonkinese, Egyptian Mau, Ocicat, the British shorthair and the Siamese as well.
The origin of the bengal cat
In 1983 the Bengal cat breed was registered in the TICA. In 1998, the ACFA, GCCF, the British GCCF and the Australian ACF allowed presenting the kind at shows. Subsequently, the Bengal cat has become one of America's most popular cat breed. In 1999, the European FIFe has accepted the Bengal cat as a separate breed. The ALC is in use today to update the bloodlines of the breed. The F1 hybrid cats have often been extremely shy, just like the ALC, so these hybrids are also only used to create a new bloodline. The F1 hybrid crossing with Bengal cats will result F2 hybrids and then crossing the F2 with Bengals cats again will result the third generation hybrid cats, which are more friendly and kind to man. The next generations of Bengal cats have sold worldwide and presented at shows.