Breed history
The history of Bengal begins in the early 1960s in Yuma, Arizona (western United States). This is where Jean Mill (1926-2018), geneticist and cat breeder, lived and worked. In 1963, she obtained a hybrid female kitten by crossing an Asian leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) and a domestic cat.
Another cross of the same type was made sometime later at the University of California, Davis, and the eight cats born from it were entrusted to him. Jean Mill crossed them with various other feline breeds, mainly Abyssinian, Burmese, and Egyptian Mau. It is on this basis that the development of the Bengal began.
The International Cat Association (TICA) registered the first Bengal cat in 1983. Six years later, the first representative of the breed arrived in France. It was a female. The first litter of 100% French Bengal kittens was born in 1993.
The LOOF (Official Book of Feline Origins) only admits Bengal cats of the 5th generation (F5) and more during competitions, exhibitions, and presentations.
