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In the mountains of the eastern region of San Diego County, the secrets of
the Bengal breed have been unfolding. Step into the next pages and watch
the
secrets unveil before your eyes......
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Adopting a Bengal is to truly acquire
a touch of the wild in your home. BengAlpine
Bengals are descended from the Asian
Leopard Cat, felis bengalensis, a
small
wild cat that lives along the Bengal River,
mated to pedigree domestic cats, felis
catus. The Egyptian Mau, the most ancient
of domestics, is the
dominant domestic
gene in BengAlpine Bengals.
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This is a copy of the earliest known picture of
an Asian Leopard Cat. The plate was first published
in a natural history book circa 1837
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The eleven or so subspecies of Asian Leopard Cat range in color from
grey to soft gold, tan to the rich sorrel color, as in the drawing. The golds,
tans and
rufoused colors of the Bengal cat belong to the traditional brown
color group which has always been held as the high standard for the Bengal--to
match the color of
the leopard cats most commonly used in breeding. However,
the elegance and popularity of the "Snow leopard" colors that cropped
up in the breeding program
caused the sepia, mink and lynx point colors
to be accepted as standard as well. Specific domestic pedigrees were used
to reinforce these traits.
Another color, silver, (often confused with sepia or mink) exhibits an
absence of any golden tones, and in its purest form, not even ivory. It
is a color
that is genetically introduced by the silver Egyptian Mau and
is influenced by the grey and charcoal markings of the Asian Leopard
Cat. The silver color
(inhibitor gene) dominates all else, partially or completely,
and has been experimented with by breeders periodically for its value
to increase clarity in the
coats of the traditional and snow colors. The
silver is the closest in color to the large wild snow leopard with its charcoal
to black colored spots. The white
tigers in Las Vegas look like our silvers
with their snowy white undercoats and backgrounds. The silver's beauty
is also captivating and is shown as a "new
breed color" at cat shows. Regardless
of the color that is worked with, the goals described in the left column remain
universal amongst quality Bengal
breeders who truly seek to advance
the breed as a unique and wildly wonderful pedigree.
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THE GOALS OF THE
BENGAL BREEDING
PROGRAM
The goal of the Bengal
breeder is to stamp a domestic
cat with the rosetted leopard
pattern and drape it with
a luxurious pelt built
onto a muscular
physique,
as well as to achieve a
wild look to the face that
is unique among domestic
pedigrees.
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BengAlpine ventured beyond
the standard colors onto the
path of silver breeding because
of a silver Bengal that captured
our hearts three years ago.
The silver breeding program
is quite embryonic so quality
silver Bengals are extremely
rare. The conformation of
the Bengal and a sweet disposition
remains our primary goals
as we strive toward the open
rosettes and glitter (even
rarer in the silvers than in
the ivory snows.) The whited
tummy of the Asian
Leopard
Cat that still remains an often
elusive quality in the browns,
of course, is not an issue with
silvers!
What you will find in the pages
ahead are beautiful silvers
with arrowhead rosettes or
spots with the desireable horizonal
flow ( a wild cat trait),
silky
or plush velvet coats, and
distinctly human-oriented
personalities....
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Want to learn more about the genetics of
Bengal colors and patterns? Click on the kitty
to peek into Emberglo's pages and get out
your pen and paper to
solve the puzzle!
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Click here to contact BengAlpine
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