Created to resemble the wild African serval — but using only domestic breeds — the Serengeti is a tall, long-legged spotted cat with huge upright ears and a bold, outgoing personality. Despite the wild look, it has no recent wild ancestry and makes a confident, sociable family companion.
- Origin
- California, USA
- Category
- shorthair
- Lifespan
- 10–15 yrs
- Size
- Medium-Large
- Weight
- 3.5–7 kg
- Coat
- Short, fine, spotted
- Colours
- Brown spotted tabby, solid black, silver spotted, and smoke
😺 Temperament
🏡 Best suited to
📊 Personality ratings
📜 History & origin
The Serengeti was developed in California in 1994 by conservation biologist Karen Sausman, who set out to create a cat with the look of a serval without using any wild cat in the breeding. She crossed Bengals with Oriental Shorthairs, combining the Bengal's spotted coat with the Oriental's long legs and large ears. The result is a domestic cat that evokes the African savannah. The breed is recognised by TICA in the preliminary new breed category and remains rare worldwide.
🧼 Care & grooming
Coat care is minimal — a weekly brush keeps the short spotted coat gleaming. What the Serengeti truly needs is activity and engagement: they are athletic, intelligent, and highly social, thriving with tall climbing structures, interactive play, and the company of people or other pets. They are talkative and will hold 'conversations' with their owners. They do not cope well with being left alone for long stretches.
🩺 Health notes
As a young breed built from healthy domestic foundation breeds, the Serengeti has no widely documented breed-specific hereditary conditions. Conditions from the parent breeds — such as Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy from the Bengal line — are worth screening for. Overall the breed benefits from good hybrid vigour and is generally robust.