Expert: W - 6/26/2007

Question
QUESTION: 6/25/07 5:30 PM

Hello:

    I am hoping you can please help me out with this question, since most of the other cat experts are away on vacation, or have maxed out accounts.

I'm am doing research on cat breeds in other countries, and I would like to know:

The Asian Leopard cat is found all over Asia-the Bengal cat derived from the Asian Leopard cat. Are there any Bengal cat breeders in China and Taiwan? I've been trying to search for some on the web. Please let me know. Thank you. :D

Sincerely,
Jason Goldman
JGoldman10@yahoo.com

ANSWER: Hi Jason
I'm afraid I cannot find any breeders in China or Taiwan. If you are interested in acquiring a cat in that area then I suggest you contact Breeders in UK or America and get them to ship one to you. If you are trying to get an 'original' cat then from what I can gather most of the Asian Leopards used to produce the Bengal are in fact from American zoos and are not taken from genuine wild cats

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello. Thank you for responding. I wanted to know if Bengal cats are found in China and Taiwan.

Sincerely,
Jason Goldman


Answer
Hi Jason
The Bengal is a hybrid cat that is it is not a genuine cat. It was manufactured in the US by outcrossing an Asia Leopard to a domestic cat thus producing an F1 hybrid. By a series of matings the hybrid now stands at F4 and is in an acceptable state to be shown. The cat does not exist in the wild in its current state as no wild cat would normally mate with a domestic cat.