although savannas cats did not gain worldwide populari the wreck mission until the late 1990s a first nine Savannah Pairing of African serval and the domestic Was achieved in the mid-1980s about a breeder Judy Frank the F1 female resulting from the breeding of was named Savannah the most appropriately is the official name of these fascinating breed today

AndAlthough Savannahs did not gain worldwide popularity and recognition until the late 1990s, the first known Savannah (pairing of an African Serval and a domestic cat) was achieved in the Mid-1980s by breeder Judee Frank. The F1 female resulting from this breeding was named “Savannah,” and most appropriately, is the official name of this fascinating breed today, more than 20 years later. However, the breed was actually named after the savannahs of Africa: the grasslands from which the breed’s serval ancestors originate.

Judee Frank’s Savannah attracted the interest of Patrick Kelly, who purchased one of Savannah’s kittens. Patrick Kelly’s enthusiasm and vision for establishing a new domestic breed based on the Serval / domestic cat cross prompted him to research what steps would be needed to be recognized and accepted by an official feline registry. Armed with that information, obtained from Leslie Bowers at TICA , Patrick approached several breeders who owned Servals and encouraged them to attempt the development of this breed.   Initially, very few breeders were interested. But Patrick persisted and finally convinced one breeder, Joyce Sroufe, to join him in his efforts.  Patrick and Joyce wrote the original breed standard and presented it to the TICA Board of Directors in February 1996. Today, Patrick’s well-known SavannahCat.com is the foremost promoter of our b