Bengal Nose

'Bengal nose'

Bengal Nose – a comparison between a good nose and an affected nose – photo copyright Helmi Flick This page was first written, as I recall, in around 2009. It has been updated on more than one occasion including today June 5, 2022 at which point I have republished it. My understanding of the …

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Florida panther – conservation efforts have succeeded for now

Catamount or puma

The Florida panther can be a thorn in the side of economic growth and a barrier to improving the lives of the people of Florida – discuss. It is bit of an anomaly in that it is the only puma population in the east of the US. Are there too many human settlements which …

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Inbreeding of wild cats can lead to extinctions in the wild due to unviable population sizes

Siberian tiger cub septuplets born in captivity

I feel that humankind is gradually approaching the time when we could argue that the inbreeding of some wild cat species might effectively extinguish them in the wild. Through human activity we have brought many wild cat species to their knees. The classic causes are habitat loss and direct persecution such as poaching for …

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What is the smartest type of cat?

Rusty-spotted cat

The smartest type of cat will be the wild cat species. You can take anyone of them. I believe that you will find that it is accepted that the wild cats are smarter than domestic cats. This is translated into another perhaps accepted fact that the wildcat hybrids such as the Savannah and Bengal …

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What does breeding true mean?

Genes and chromosomes

“Breeding true” means that the offspring look like their parents. It is achieved by “line breeding” which is a form of inbreeding which ideally does not transfer undesirable traits together with those traits that the breeder wants such as the correct phenotype (appearance as per the breed standard). It is a fine balance being …

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Inbred royals were less capable so what about inbred purebred cats?

Inbreeding makes an animal or the human-animal less capable

Historians at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) studied the inbred monarchs of England and Scotland from 990 to 1800. They were inbred because marriages at that time were unions of convenience both politically and strategically. The most inbred monarch in the study was Charles II of Spain. His parents were uncle and niece. …

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Are purebred cats inbred?

Inbreeding among European royals. An example of how inbreeding affects the human animal.

My belief is that the whole purpose of cat breeding is to selectively breed cats which have as near as possible a perfect appearance according to the breed standard and in order to achieve this the breeder has to ensure that the genes of a first-class cat are transferred to their offspring and so …

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