The Asian Leopard Cat – Founder of our Bengal’s

By C. Esmond Gay – Sarez Bengal’s – June 2008

My Experience with my ALC’s;
The Bengal cat is now the most popular pedigree cat in UK, if not the world. They are sought after by stars and celebrities as well as more ‘normal’ people. But why? Because we want something rare and unique? Well, with so many people breeding Bengal’s, only the early generations remain rare… but yes, we all love the Bengal because it is “unique”!! What other pedigree can boast that its Father, Grandfather or even Great great Grandfather was a wild leopard who stalked the jungles or Asia? I’ve written many articles about the Bengal - but this article is dedicated to the cat who brought the Bengal into being – the little, shy but very beautiful Asian Leopard Cat!!

People love to say that the Asian Leopard Cat is a vicious little temperamental creature – a cat that could never make a good pet. I want to state that I DON’T believe these animals should ever be kept as pets but having owned 17 of these delightful little cats, I can say that within the RIGHT environment and if brought up by a loving human family from birth, the Asian Leopard cat is friendly, docile and loyal to his owner - and truly charming to be around. Sarah and I hand reared almost all of our ALC’s from birth and we dedicated our lives to them… we were with them almost constantly and due to the size of our home and because of our expertise with wild cats in general, our council licensed us to keep them in our home.

Being allowed to keep them in our family home with my baby daughter (aptly named “Kitten Gay”) playing with them (and sleeping with them), of course helped us to keep these little cats very tame and friendly. However we did note that the male ALC would always bond most closely with my fiancé Sarah whilst the female ALC’s would bond and become totally devoted to me (we also found that the same happened with our F1 Bengals).

As our ALC’s grew up we would put them into separate outside enclosures, each with there own little “harem” of Bengal females to encourage them to hybridize. And these little wild cats would STILL stay totally tame with us (however if an ALC is re-homed then it does become more aloof with its new owner).

So this really does go to show that despite their reputation for being ‘untamable, spiteful’ and ‘aggressive’, in actual fact it is the environment the owner creates AND the love and nurture the owner gives to these cats from a very young age that determines its friendliness. If one leaves them to be parent reared, if one ignores them, if one cannot be bothered to give these little darlings any time and attention, then AS WITH EVEN A DOMESTIC CAT, of course they will grow up to be wild – that’s in their genes! But at the same time, from MY experience, if one hand rears these ALC’s from birth, if one gives them unlimited human companionship, and if one bestows great love and attention on them, then they CAN be kept tame and handleable even as adults. That is my experience anyway, having owned and hand reared 17 from 1993 to 2004.

However, as I said, I do NOT believe these animals should be kept as pets. They should either be in the wild, in wildlife parks and conservation centers… or they should be kept LICENSED in proper, approved accommodation by knowledgeable and expert Bengal breeders (who have had some sort of training in the keeping of small wild cats). Luckily in the UK our Dangerous Wild Animal laws are strict and so ones council will turn down a license from someone who is simply not suited or doesn’t have the experience to keep these creatures. Sadly many people think that it is easy to get an ALC to hybridize. Some people cannot understand why (when I bred) I charged from £7,000 upto £100,000 for an F1. It isn’t easy to hybridize and its also very costly. Out of the 17 ALC’s I owned, only 2 ever hybridized. Our ALC “Little L” hybridized for just 18 months and produced a handful of F1 females (all now owned by Pauline Mcinnin – Gazette Bengals). And our ALC “Apollo” started to hybridize in 2004 and to this day he continues to breed copious quantities of F1’s for his new owner Pauline Mcinnin – Gazette Bengal’s.

Just two ALC’s have ever hybridized in the whole of the UK since the Bengal was produced in the 1980’s. And nor is hybridizing a cheap process either!! If one wants to keep 17 ALC’s in utter luxury with no expense spared then one has to pay for that privilege! Over the years I must have spent at least £600,000 buying the ALC’s, providing the best accommodation and care, bills and expenses. So me selling just a few F1’s for £7-100k is put more into perspective once one knows the expenditure involved in doing this work PROPERLY.

But what does make me angry is people in the UK who PRETEND to have bred F1’s. F1’s are SO rare that very few people have seen them in the flesh. So the fashion amongst the unscrupulous now seems to be to lie and sell say F3’s as F1’s. Please be aware of this. Now that I have retired, Pauline Mcinnin (who brought all my cats) is the ONLY person capable of breeding F1’s.

Which Sub Species of ALC is best for Hybridizing?
NOT ALL SUB SPECIES OF ALC ARE SUITABLE FOR HYBRIDIZING!! All sub species can be used to hybridize but some sub species are so rare that they should NEVER be taken out of the wild or taken away from conservation programs due to the near extinction that some sub species face. As well as this, sub species like the Amur Asian Leopard Cat have a course and very ticked, longish coat and that creates ticked, course haired F1 Bengal’s with very pale brown spots – NOT GOOD for the Bengal breed as a whole as extremely poor quality F1’s (and subsequent generations) are bred.

I will NEVER advocate the hybridization usage of any ALC that is either endangered (because that directly threatens the survival of that subspecies of ALC)… nor will I advocate the using of sub species that creates poor quality Bengals as that directly hurts our beautiful breed and introduces most undesirable traits into the Bengal gene pool. I have seen some breeders “boasting” that they are trying to get Amur ALC’s to hybridize and I must say that I'm disgusted. If they succeed they will not be doing the Bengal fancy any favors. We have all fought hard to eradicate ticking from the Bengal coats – and sub species like the Amur will simply re-introduce that. I always used “bengalensis Bengalensis” as there is a hugely healthy population so the ALC conservation is not effected - and I also used them because this delightful little Leopard Cat is one of the most beautiful sub species in existence with a pale background and stunning black spots and rosettes.

Some Basic Facts and Info on the Asian Leopard Cat;
The Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) is a small wild cat from South East Asia. On average it is as large as a domestic cat, but there are considerable regional differences: in Indonesia the average size is 45 cm (18 in), plus 20 cm (8 in) tail, while it is 60 cm/40 cm (24/16 in) in the Amur region. The shoulder height is 41 cm (16 in) and the weight is 4.5-6.8 kg (10-15 lbs), similar in size to a domestic cat. The fur is also quite variable: it is yellow in the southern populations, but silver-grey in the northern ones. The chest and the lower part of the head are white. The leopard cat bears black markings that may be - dependent on the subspecies - spots or rosettes.

T he habitat of this cat is forests and rainforest both in low and mountainous areas, usually not arid areas. It lives close to watercourses and may be found in heights up to 3000 m. The leopard cat can climb trees skillfully. It is also able to swim, but will seldom do so. These cats are nocturnal, and during the day they spend their time in dens that may be hollow trees, cavities under roots, or caves. They spend time out during the day in areas where there are no humans.

Physical Appearance;
The Leopard Cat is approximately the size of a domestic house cat, but with longer legs. The ground color of this cat can range from a pale yellow, to a golden yellow, to a reddish or greyish yellow. They have many large, solid, black spots and blotches covering their entire body. The spots may form stripes on areas of the neck and back. Their under belly and underside of their face is white. They also have black ears with one large white spot in the middle of the back of each ear, which most cats have.
     
Diet;
The ALC has a varied diet, and may eat rodents, rabbits, birds, reptiles and fish. They have been known to kill domestic poultry. We used to feed our Leopard Cats on various sized rats, quail, and small rabbits and for snacks; they love nothing better than mice.

ALC Breeding;
These cats are nocturnal, and during the day they spend their time in dens that may be hollow trees, cavities under roots, or caves. They spend time out during the day in areas where there are no humans. The leopard cat is solitary, except during breeding season. There is no fixed breeding period in the southern part of their range; but in the colder northern parts they tend to breed around March or April, when the weather is nice enough to support newborn kittens. The estrus period lasts for 5-9 days. After a gestation period of 9-10 weeks, two to three kittens are born in a den, and there they will remain until they are a month old. They open their eyes at ten days old, and start to eat solid food at 23 days. If the kittens are killed the mother can come into heat again and have another litter that year.

Conservation;
All species of ALC are killed primarily for their skin. This is why Jean Mill first created the Bengal breed – to help bring the public awareness of the plight of all wild cats. After all, what affluent lady would want to wear a coat that resembled her pet cat? The ALC are fully protected although some sub species have more protection under CITES than others.

Subspecies;
1) Prionailurus Bengalensis Alleni
2) Prionailurus Bengalensis Bengalensis – India, Bangladesh, Southeast Asian Mainland, Yunnan.
3) Prionailurus Bengalensis Borneoensis - Borneo
4) Prionailurus Bengalensis Chinensis – China, Taiwan, Philippines
5) Prionailurus Bengalensis Euptailurus – Eastern Siberia, Mongolia, Manchuria
6) Prionailurus Bengalensis Heaneyi
7) Prionailurus Bengalensis Horsfieldi - Himalaya
8) Prionailurus Bengalensis Javanensis - Java
9) Prionailurus Bengalensis Rabori
10) Prionailurus Bengalensis Sumatranus - Sumatra
11) Prionailurus Bengalensis Trevelyani - Eastern Pakistan

NOTE 1; The Iriomote Cat (P. iriomotensis) was once considered a subspecies of the Leopard Cat and lives exclusively on the tiny island of Iriomote.

NOTE 2; At first the Tsushima cat was regarded as a separate species as well, then as a subspecies of the leopard cat, and now as a variety of the Manchurian subspecies (F. b. euptailurus). It is estimated to number less than 100 in 1988 and it lives in Tsushima, a small island between Japan and Korea. They hide in the forests on the mountains of this small island, where they remain unpersecuted.

For more information please read my articles “The Majestic F1 and F2 Bengal’s” and “An Ironic Step toward Feline Conservation”.

And to see these beautiful ALC’s in real life (and ALL generations and colours of the Bengal), please visit Pauline Mcinnin – Gayzette Bengals.

C. Esmond Gay
June 2008