Serengeti Cats

Have you ever seen a Serval before (Leptailurius serval), those cute and large eared African cats. If you ever had a chance to have one as a pet wouldn't you want to try in raising one?

Unfortunately those cats are wild and you wouldnt actually find one in your local petshop or cattery right? Well there is good news for those wild cat enthusiats out there. Karen Sausman of Kingsmark Cattery in California developed a breed of cat that closely resembles a cute Serval.

They are called Serengeti cats, named after an African country that has Servals running all over the place. But would you believe that these cats were not bred from Servals at all. They do have wild ancestors but the breed was developed from domesticated and established breeds but still having that wild and mishcievious Serval look.

These spotted and stripped cats called the Serengeti was developed from the Spotted Bengals and the Long eared Oriental cats which explains the closeness in looks with a Serval but because of its domesticated origins it is very tamed and has a nice disposition.

Leptailurius serval (Serval)

Felis catus (Serengeti Cat)

Large and high set ears of the Serengeti was developed to closely resemble the same kind of ears that a Serval has, their spotted coats have been taken from a well spaced spot type of Bengals to immulate more the defined and spaced spots of a Serval. Karen needed to infuse Bengals with large and expressive eyes since the Serval has large eyes to use in looking for prey in the dark, and so she searched for such individuals to use in the foundation stock. Another trait that was incorporated was the long leggedness also found in Servals, this was taken from the Bengals which have sleek and long legs.

a lot of trials to achieve the Serval look without using wild stock to produce it, Karen needed to look for Oriental short hairs with high set ears and nice whisker pads and she had to look for clear spotted Bengals since Rosetted or Clouded Bengals are not acceptable and Servals are a spotted species.

Serengeti's first achieved acceptance with TICA in 1994 and was given the opportunity to show with the Preliminary New Breed class. When 2002 came the cats were now allowed in the Evaluation class for showing giving a better chance for the cats to be appreciated by the public and arousing interest for new breeders to perpetate the breed since it is part of the requirements of a new breed to be bred by a lot of breeders, as the breed's population and breeder's increase so as its status with TICA.

These cats are very athletic and quite playful, they can be compatible with other pets through careful introduction and care. They are very self assured and wastes no time in leaving its mark in the house with the hearts of its owners and visitors which will make them ask 'Is that a Serval, How do I get one?"

Try these website for more information about this new and interesting breed:

http://www.kingsmarkfarms.com (The original breeder)

http://www.serengetibreed.com/about.htm

http://www.thekarakashkats.com/

For the breed's standards in TICA click on this link:

http://www.ticaeo.com/Content/Publications/Pages/SE.pdf

"All photos seen here are not my own and in no way am I claiming them to be my own. Some have the knowledge of the owners of me showcasing their cats Photos.
These photos are here to give adequate and vivid representations of cat breeds and conditions and are in no means for profit."