Sokoke
A natural breed from the Arabuko Sokoke forest in Kenya, and one of the few African cats registered. Lean, hard muscled, and it moves like a wild thing.
Photo by A. Turto, CC BY-SA 2.5
Overview
The Sokoke comes from the Arabuko Sokoke forest on the Kenyan coast, where it lived as a wild population of domestic cats known locally as khadzonzo. It was taken up as a breed in the 1970s and developed largely in Denmark.
The coat is a blotched tabby with an unusual agouti ticking through the markings, and the whole cat is lean, long legged and built for heat rather than for a show bench.
Temperament
Active, alert and strongly attached to its own people while wary of strangers. Sokokes are sociable within the household and reserved outside it.
They are athletic climbers and serious hunters, and they are vocal in an unusual range of sounds. They are described as having an unusual awareness of their people's mood, and they do not like being alone.
Care and grooming
A weekly rub down. The coat is very short with almost no undercoat and needs essentially nothing.
As a natural population given a standard, it has no documented breed specific disorder, though the founding group was small and the breed remains extremely rare. A cat adapted to coastal Kenya feels a cold climate and wants warmth.
Living and exercise
Space, height and a good deal of activity. They are among the more athletic cats on this shelf.
The practical difficulty is availability: numbers are very low worldwide and there are few breeders. Twelve to fifteen years is the usual expectation.
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