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There are approximately 37 species of wild cat in the world today. Among them are the Ocelot, Margay, Sand Cat, Fishing Cat, Pallas Cat and of course the Asian Leopard Cat. We will focus our look on the most commonly encountered wild cats with the spotted or rosetted pattern. The Asian Leopard Cat is a common name for many subspecies of cat. We will endeavor to shed some light on what those subspecies individual traits are and what they have added to the Bengal Breed as a whole.
The Wild Cat influences in this breed are varied. We are placing pictures here of the various types of coat patterns and physical traits and will explain their influence in the breeds development. |
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The Amur has a bit longer coat and a bit wider cheek area than the other Asian Leopard Cats. Its longer coat is necessary due to its very northern range and colder climate conditions of Northern Korea through northern regions of China, Russia and Siberia. Â
It has the familiar striping from just above the eyes over the back skull and down the neck. It has a more often rosetted coat than just a spotted one. It has a wide nose leather and whited chin, tummy, spectacles and black or dark brown outlined rosetting. Its eyes are "hooded" rather than completely round and very deeply set. They have a dark brown to black rim, set against the white of the spectacles makes a striking picture.  It has a larger bone structure and is a substantial cat. Its ears are also bell shaped but slightly wider across than the Asian Leopard Cat.Â
These cats are used in some Bengal Breeding programs. |
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Fishing Cat (Prionailurus Viverrinus)
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These cats show some similarities to the Amur Leopard Cat. The same vertical markings above the eyes and over the back skull. The same white and black markings (mascara) coming from the edges of the eyes back over the cheeks. However, many differences as well. A deep set to the eyes with an almond shape and a wide nose leather in a deep brick color. Their coat appears much more spotted than rosetted. Their tail is a just a bit longer and their ears are smaller in relation to their head size as well as well as more on the sides of the head than the top. The are also a larger cat than the Margay, Amur Leopard Cat or Asian Leopard Cat. They are midway between the Amur or Asian Leopard Cat and the Ocelot in size. they are between 15-26 pounds, about 16 inches tall and are a very stocky powerful cat. Their coat is typically an olive gray with horizontal, parallel black spots.
They are found in India, Sri-Lanka, Himalayas, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma, Indo-China and Indonesia in forested and watery habitats up to 5000 feet elevation. Their principal diet is fish. Although not used directly in the Bengal Breed program, the fishing cat's wild type, horizontal pattern and stocky build have contributed as a model for some Bengal Programs. |
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Margay Cat (Leopardus Wiedii)
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First, like the Ocelot and Oncilla, its range is not in the Asian countries at all. Its home ranges from Southern Texas to Argentina. It is noted by researchers by its agility as a climber. It has been seen racing up and down tree trunks in the manner of squirrels, that is head first. It lives most of its life in the trees.
As is evident from these photos, the head style and type of the Margay has some real differences from the previous Asian Cat species. It has a more pronounced muzzle and wider eyes with really dark black eye rims and "cheetah tear stains" from the inner eye down the sides of the muzzle. They also have a single black strip vertically above each eye up over the back skull. They can have a darker rimmed nose with either a stripe or fuller area of pink in the center. The coat is much more richly colored and much more striking markings than the Asian Leopard Cats . The coat color and very black contrasted markings are highly prized in today's Bengals. It also has the very whited undersides of the other varieties and the very horizontal flow to the markings. It also has a slightly wider and less length vertically than some other varieties of Leopard Cat. Ears seem to be shorter and very wide from base to tip. with no tendency to narrow.
This cat has contributed much in its appearance as a model for the Bengal Program. Although none of its genes have become part of our pool, nonethess it has become an ideal for some bengal breeding programs in its markings, head and ear size and shape. |
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The commonly named Asian Leopard Cat also has the deep set very dark brown eyes. They are more round than almond shaped. They have a whited underside and white ocelli (spots on the back of their ears). Some have a rosette to the coat, although many are covered with small to medium spots. Their pattern is very much a horizontal or angular pattern of spots or rosettes as opposed to a vertical pattern in the typical domestic cat. Their coat is very tight to the body and Extremely soft as opposed to the Amur Leopard Cat which has a longer soft coat. A VERY short THICK tail as exhibited by the cat in the middle pictures. opposite of whats desired in the bengal.
They have the small ears set as much on the side as the top of the head and very rounded at the tips and characterized as bell shaped.. They also are strongly identified by the specific profile demonstrated by most of the pictures above. From the side you notice a very slight curve from up over the back of the neck over the back skull, flowing gently into the forehead with no break between forehead and nose bridge. This nose bridge extends well above the eye from the side and continues to the nose leather. There should be a deep side profile from the nose level down to the point of the chin denoting a strong mouth and jaw and the ability to catch and kill prey effectively.
It can be found across India, China, Korea, and on islands such as Sumatra, Philippines, Taiwan, Borneo, Bali and Java. The fur trade caused this cat to be placed on the Endangered Species list. It is primarily nocturnal in behavior and prefer brush and forested habitats. They are excellent swimmers and tree climbers. They are solitary and reclusive. They weight between 7 to 15 pounds with males being substantially larger than females. With around 10 subspecies, there is great variety in subspecies coloration and pattern depending on habitat, climate and elevation. The Asian Leopard Cats continue to be introduced into the Bengal Breed. All Bengals can trace their origins back to one of these Asian Leopard Cats. With the introduction of other Asian Leopard Cats into the gene pool, we will continue to see some diversity in type in the early generation cats. Due to this, there is not a worry at this time of a small gene pool for our Bengals. |
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Oncilla (Leopardus Tigrinus)
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The Oncilla is a much smaller cat weighing on average 5.5 pounds. It has similar characteristics to the Margay and can be difficult to distinguish in the field. It's coat tends to be not nearly as dark and blotchy as the Margay and its tail is not as long. Its fur is not as thick and its body is more slender. The notable exception to its resemblance to other Leopard Cat populations is that the Oncilla produces a melanistic version or black with black spots in the wild. The other Asian Leopard Cats do not produce a melanistic variety in their wild populations. Gestation periods run 75-78 days. It is found most often in cloud forests at much higher elevations of Central and South America than the Margay or Ocelot.
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Ocelot (Leopardus Pardalis)
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The Ocelot is not an Asian cat at all. It's range is in North, Central and South America. They are a much larger cat that the Asian wildcats pictured above. They are listed here as reference only. Their coat patterns have inspired some Bengal Breeders to attempt to produce this very spectacular black outlined rosetted coat. This cat is much larger than the Asian versions listed above. They are usually 3'2" long excluding the tail which can range another 1.5 feet in length. Much longer tails than in the tree dwelling Asian Leopard Cats. It weighs 20-33 pounds. It eats small mammals, birds, fish and snakes and monkeys and are good swimmers. They prefer to hunt on the ground but will take to the trees to hunt if no prey is found below.
It is mostly nocturnal and very territorial. It will often have heated fights to the death over territory. It is most often solitary, meeting only to mate. It's gestation period is estimated to be 70 days. 1-4 cubs are born in each litter. Mothers raise the cubs alone. Due to territory destruction, there are only a few dense thickets which are known to be inhabited by Ocelots in Southern Texas and Arizona. Male Ocelots are sometimes killed on highways in this area searching for new territory. They have been found as far away as the Caribbean islands but are found in largest numbers in the Rainforests of the Amazon.
This beautiful cat has an exquisite pattern on its coat. It has become an dieal of horizontal rosetting for many in the Bengal Breed. It, along with the clouded leopard lend their flowing pattern to that Bengal sub group |
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Marble is rare occation in the nature. 1987 the first marble appeared at Millwoods and it became a buzz in the entire bengal community about this odd caramel looking type. After some years it got recognized as a standard.
Many tends to be too dark, but some high quatliy marbles adds some really amazing reassemblens of a clouded bengal and takes your breath away. Therefor some breeders are working hard on dividing the flow and make the pattern more spotlike with the extra benefit of the coulded rosetts.
The closest we can find in the nature is the king cheetah, which has a dark flowing marking. They are in no way related to the ALC though. |
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The Clouded Leopard is a medium-sized cat found in Southeast Asia. It has a tan or tawny coat, and is distinctively marked with large, irregularly-shaped, dark-edged ellipses which are said to be shaped like clouds. The Clouded Leopard was confusing to scientists for a long time because of its appearance and skeleton. It seemed to be a cross between a big cat and a small cat.
The pattern is very unique and spectacular. Many breeders want a merge of the clouded pattern with a chained Ocelot and work with this is in the front of todays topbreeds. Expect to see more of this within the following years. |
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Images: Google Sources: Wikipedia, Nitewindes |
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