Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio, Hey brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum. Here. About six million years ago, two feline factions went their separate ways. A small bodied cat living in Europe became the common ancestor of both groups. One lineage eventually gave rise to Felis catus, the modern domestic cat kept in millions of households. The other produced a species known as and forgive my rusty Latin priyan Aileris ben galensis, or the wild leopard cat. Distributed across
southern and Eastern Asia. It prowls forests, farms, and grasslands. Weighing about seven to fifteen pounds that's about three to seven kilos on average. A few would mistake the creature for an actual leopard, yet it's a skilled predator all the same, and just like leopards. Many of these wee beasties are covered with rosettes roundish spot clusters that surround lighter patches of fur. In the twentieth century, demand for exotic looking pets created a hybrid cat market by crossing P.
Bengalensis with the more familiar Felis catis. A new breed rose and prominence athletic and willful. This so called Bengal cat can be quite a handful, and as we'll see, it's no stranger to controversy. One of the cat lovers who helped the Bengal get its start was geneticist Williard center Wall. In nine, center Wall, then a professor at California's Loma Linda University, began crossing domestic cats with leopard cats. The latter are resistant to the feline version of leukemia
cancer he was studying. Through his hybridized cats, center Wall sought new insights into the hereditary processes associated with this disorder. He wasn't the first person to breed leopard cats with domestics. Reports show that other hybrids were born as far back as nineteen thirty one, and we can't discuss Bengal origins without acknowledging the late gene Mill. A collaborator of center Walls. This conservationist made it a leper cat with a black
tom cat in nineteen sixty three. Thus began a decades long passion for Bengals. Mills gorgeous animals and their descendants would soon become regulars at high profile cat shows. That visibility popularized the breed as a whole. Another breeder of note was Bill Angler, a zookeeper and longtime animal importer, using a leopard cat named Shah Angler bread a number of half domestic half wild kittens in the early nineteen seventies. He might have also given these critters their popular name.
Popular Myths says that Bengal could be a play on the abbreviation be Angler. Of course, it could simply stand from the species name bean glensis. The world may never know. Today, you can find Bengals in a number of different colors and patterns. Most people associate these animals with the rosette markings detailed above, but not all rosettes look alike. They can be pointed and vaguely arrow shaped, or circular with a doughnut like flare. Other Bengals have so called paw
print rosettes. As the name implies, those splotches almost look like animal tracks. And then you've got Bengals with swirling, multitoned marble coats instead of the more traditional spots. Back Millbred the first known kitten to rock this distinctive first style. The coat space color can be quite variable too, depending on the individual, can look brown, golden, charcoal, gray, silvery,
or even whitish. And that's right, folks, there are white furred Bengal cats who look like miniature snow leopards out there underneath their showy coats. Bengals tend to have muscular physiques. According to the Cat Fanciers Association, the hind legs are a bit taller than the shoulders. In general, adult Bengals way about eight to fifteen pounds or four to seven kilos, a tiny bit more than their wild ancestors. But these guys have a well earned reputation as energetic felines. Fond
of long walks and games of fetch. Bengals are on the move almost constantly. To prevent boredom, keepers can stock up on toys or get their pet a feline playmate. Like Savannah cats, another hybrid breed, Bengals have an affinity for water related activities, from swimming in kittie pools to showering with their owners. If you don't know what you're getting into, all that stamina can feel overwhelming. Too Often, people who are drawn to the breed's wild appearance are
unprepared for its wild lifestyle. Partly for this reason, the Minnesota based Wildcat Sanctuary and Tampa Floor It's a Big Cat Rescue to Organizations that provide housing and care for exotic feelines have discouraged would be owners from buying hybrid cats bengals included. For her part, Mill believed that the normalization of pet bengals would both decrease the public's appetite for luquard skin coats and raise awareness about wildcat conservation.
It's important to do your research before buying any kind of new pet. If you're looking to purchase a Bengal kitten or adult, look into the creature's ancestry. The heritage of an individual cat may affect its trainability. Bengals with wild parents or grandparents usually require more socialization than those descended from a long line of captive born animals. State and local laws also deserve your attention. Some places, such as Hawaii, have put a ban on Bengal cat ownership.
Other areas will let you keep a pet bengal, but only if the cat is several generations removed from any wild ancestors. Today's episode was written by Mark Bancini and produced by Tyler Clang, a brain Stuff Is production and iHeart Radio's How Stuff works from More on that a lots of other topics that aren't kittting around. Oh I'm sorry about that one, visit our home planet how stuff
works dot com. And for more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows