Can wild cat genetics show up generations down? Bengals

[kcpo24]

I was gonna buy a bengal kitten that was about 3 generations down from the actual wild cat (Asian leopard). So the Asian leopard was like it's great grandfather.

But.. the kitten I wanted looked EXACTLY like an Asian leopard cat. The breeder said that sometimes the genetics can show and that great grandchildren can sometimes be closer to the wildcat than the actual 1st litter from the wildcat. So even tgo the kitten I wanted wasn't an F1, or what ever u call it, it was an F3 or F4 yet more expensive than the F1

Is that true? Can great grandchildren of a wild cat be more like the wildcat than the 1st litter that came directly from the wildcat?

 

[StefanZ]

I was gonna buy a bengal kitten that was about 3 generations down from the actual wild cat (Asian leopard). So the Asian leopard was like it's great grandfather.

But.. the kitten I wanted looked EXACTLY like an Asian leopard cat. The breeder said that sometimes the genetics can show and that great grandchildren can sometimes be closer to the wildcat than the actual 1st litter from the wildcat. So even tgo the kitten I wanted wasn't an F1, or what ever u call it, it was an F3 or F4 yet more expensive than the F1

Is that true? Can great grandchildren of a wild cat be more like the wildcat than the 1st litter that came directly from the wildcat?

When was it?  If it was recently, it surpises me they are making new batches of bengals.   The construction of Savannah is nearer in the time, bengals are how much, at least 10 years back...  I thought.

Re the expenses for F1 and F4...  This is nothing peculiar. F1 arent allowed to be sold, as its practically prohibited to own true wild animals or fresh hybrids thereof.

F4 could be looken over between the fingers, I can imagine.  And thus, they may be saleable to commoners   Im not sure which generation is supposed to be purebred and allowed to sell, the F5 I think. 

 

[biancavd]

Short answer: Yes. It is possible for a kitten to look more like the great grand father than the actual parents. Genes are funny that way.

It takes multiple generations for genes to balance out/settle/stabalize. So the genes of the great grand father is still within the father of your kitten, and in some cases those just show more than the other genes that dad and mom also give to their offspring. It doesn't happen that often, but it's surely not unheard of. For breeders this kitten would not be used, as it's not stabalizing the breed they are working on and showing the correct genes, but the kitten itself should be completely fine Just not breeding material.

 

[kcpo24]

OK that makes sense thank u. But I am really curious if for example, if the great grandfather is an actual wild cat (Asian leopard) can one of its grandchildren actually be born as a wildcat even tho its parents are just hybrids? Since the genes are there u know what i mean?

Because the way the breeder explained it to me was that the kitten I wanted for some reason came out pretty much exactly like a wild Asian leopard cat. Looks and size and everything. Even tho the parents didnt

 

[leopardsrealm]

The short answer to your question about whether a kitten at generation F3 can be born as a wildcat is no. It is a hybrid with diluted wild blood and is considered a bengal and registered as a bengal.

It is extremely unusual for a third generation bengal kitten to look exactly like an Asian Leopard cat, but probably not unheard of.