Savannah

The first Savannah, a female named Savannah, was created by breeder Judee Frank on April 7, 1986. Patrick Kelly, interested in cats with a wild appearance, decided to create a breed after having a female kitten, Kitty, from the first Savannah in 1989. He encourages various breeders to attempt the crossing, but there is hardly anyone but Joyce Sroufe to join him. They define a standard which they present to TICA in February 1996. A year later, Joyce Sroufe presents the Savannah at a cat show in Westchester in the State of New York and succeeds in obtaining the first fertile Savannah males. In 2002, TICA considers the entry of this new breed on the same basis as other domestic cats but only for the third generation resulting from mating with the serval, meaning that hybrids of the F1 and F2 generations cannot be accepted. The LOOF allows the breed to be shown at exhibitions since January 1, 2007 as "New breeds and colors," with wild cats and first generation hybrids (F1 to F4) being prohibited from exhibitions. A Savannah is said to be of the F1 generation if its father is a serval and its mother a Savannah or a domestic cat among the authorized breeds: Oriental Shorthair, Egyptian Mau, or Ocicat. An F2 has a serval grandfather, an F3 a serval great-grandfather, and so on. The further one goes in this classification, the further the hybrid diverges from the serval. The import of Savannah has been banned in Australia by Environment Minister Peter Garrett due to risks associated with the introduction of this breed with hunting talents; the twelve million stray cats on Australian territory already posing significant threats to wildlife. In the United Kingdom, the waiting time before owning a Savannah kitten in 2009 was six months for a price over 6,000 pounds.

The Savannah is described as a very intelligent, curious, sociable, active, gentle, and affectionate cat. It loves water, unlike other cat breeds.

Its head is small relative to the rest of the body. It is triangular in shape and longer than it is wide. Their neck is very long, thick, and muscular. They have a long nose and a small chin. The eyes are medium-sized and oval in shape, slightly almond-like. They are often accompanied by the characteristic white tears of the breed. The color varies from yellow to golden green or amber. The ears are very large and placed very high on the head. Their base is very wide and the tips are rounded. The paws are long and thin, and the back ones appear very high. The feet are small but have long toes. Their tail is quite thick and measures approximately three-quarters the length of a normal cat's tail. It has rings and ends in a rounded black tip. It has a "spotted tabby" coat with several small black spots on the paws and head. These spots are round, oval, or elongated in shape. The entire belly of the Savannah is spotted and white to creamy, more or less light.