Savannah cats
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Savannah cats are the name given to the offspring of a domestic cat and a serval — a medium-sized, large-eared wild African cat. The unusual cross became popular among breeders at the end of the 20th century, and in 2001 the International Cat Association accepted it as a new registered breed. Savannahs are much more social than typical domestic cats, and they are often compared to dogs in their loyalty. They can be trained to walk on a leash and even taught to play fetch.
Bengal breeder Judee Frank crossbred a male Serval, belonging to Suzi Woods, with a Siamese (domestic cat) to produce the first Savannah cat (named Savannah) on April 7, 1986.[1] Frank’s Savannah attracted the interest of Patrick Kelley, who purchased one of Savannah’s kittens in 1989.[2] Kelley was one of the first enthusiasts who worked towards establishing a new domestic breed based on a Serval/domestic cat cross. He approached many Serval breeders to help in the development of this new breed, and finally garnered the help of breeder Joyce Sroufe to work with him in taking the steps needed to have the new breed recognized.[2]
In 1996, Patrick Kelley and Joyce Sroufe wrote the original version of the Savannah breed standard, and presented it to the board of The International Cat Association (TICA). In 2001, the board accepted the breed for registration.[3]
Serval
Leptailurus serval
The serval (pronounced /ˈsɜrvəl/), Leptailurus serval, is a medium-sized African wild cat. Modern molecular DNA analysis indicates that servals maintain their own unique lineage descending from the same Felid ancestor as the lion, and though the serval shares common traits with the cheetah, it is the cheetah which is thought to have descended from ancient servals.[3] Similar DNA studies have shown the African golden cat and the caracal are closely related to the serval, and may have branched by cross-breeding.
Wild African Serval
A Beautiful Relationship – Savannah Cat MAGIC and Andreas Stucki.
Jumping Servals
I’m African and it is interesting info about the Savannah cat that I did not know about. Came across this while doing research in writing articles on general information about Africa. Thanks.
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I have read about Savannah cat and i find it very,very interesting…Very,very beautiful cat…
I know that if we want to buy one it is very expensif…how much ??
Is that cat good with children or dangerous…
Are they loosing lost of hair like the normal cats do…
Could you tell me if there are breeder in Canada, where we could find nad if we could have
there e-mail. Thank you very much..
Remove the following photos as you are in breach of copyright:
1. Heading picture by Helmi Flick of serval and Savannah cat
2. The 2 photos above and below the words, ” World’s Tallest Pet Cat – MAGIC…..”. The top one is by Helmi Flick and the one below by Kathrin Stucki both are copyright protected.
I will allow 24 hours to remove the pictures failing which I will report this to Google under their complaints procedure and WordPress.
Removed per request 6/4/11
I agree with your Savannah cats – Serval – Leptailurus serval | Dummidumbwit's Weblog, superb post.
Savannah cats… As an educated south african, I was raised to respect and cherish these wild animals. I find this post most disturbing. Wild creatures should not be domesticated or be forced to breed with domestic animals to satisfy the whims of a foreign market.
Buy another unusual breed (if you have to be “unique”) but stop exploiting the natural inhabitants of Africa. All Africa has left is its wildlife. Nothing else.
Please say no to zoos. No more animals in captivity. Please say no to breeding programmes. Please just say no to exploitation of creatures that can’t speak for themselves.
Please take a stand in protecting the wild of our planet.
Beautiful Creatures
june 16, 2012
Dirk Rezelman of Zululand says: Our 19-year old Felis lybica (African Wild Cat) Katinka died a few months go. Replaced it with a kitten X domestic tabby x serval x african wild cat which is growing by the day and has serval marking pattern in grey on black background. presents as a tabby but far larger and with symmetrical pattern of serval. they’re feral around here where we live and have been cross-bred by nature and not breeders.