The Sokoke is a long legged moderate-sized cat with a short dense coat without any undercoat. It looks a little like a ocelot having an "African tabby pattern" with ticked hairs in the dark part of the pattern. It's movement pattern can be compared with a cheetahs. They mature very slowly, and only reach sexual maturity at the age 1,5-2 years.

Other Names

African Shorthair

Native Country

Kenya (Africa)

Breed Description

Head: Appears small compared to body. Wedge-shaped. Nearly flat top of the skull. High, well-defined cheekbones. Nose moderately long, with a gentle concave curve. Strong, broad chin. Well-defined whisker pads. No whisker pinch.
Eyes: Large, slightly almond-shaped, moderately spaced, slightly slanted toward the nose. Amber to light green. Outlined in the same color as the solid parts of the markings.
Body: Moderately long, svelte, very muscular. Solidly boned. Well-developed chest.
Paw: Long, svelte, and very muscular. Forelegs are shorter than hind legs. Oval paws.
Tail: Moderately long, thick at the base, tapering to the tip.
Coat: Short hair, shiny but not silky, lying flat against the body. Little or no undercoat. Recognized color: brown blotched tabby, that is, brown or black marbled tabby with a somewhat darker base. The tip of the tail is always black. Each hair has alternating light and dark bands.

History

Historically, we can only find one reference to the Sokoke Forest Cat. This is in the Giriama tribal name for cat "Kadzonzo". The Giriama tribe have lived traditionally around the forest for hundreds of years. All the tribal elders we have known can describe the best of the Sokoke cats perfectly and can differentiate from the three wild genera, as well as the domestic breeds. This is proof of the cats' very close relationship with the old culture. Today's Giriama tend to be ignorant of the Kadzonzo. Not much was known about the Sokoke cat before the Kenyan farmer Jeni Slater in 1978 found a litter of kittens in her coconut plantation. Jeni Slater is an experienced horsebreeder and found the kittens so special that she brought them home as pets. The second piece of good luck for the survival of the Sokoke Cat was that Gloria Moeldrup was a fishing client of the Slaters, Jeni invited Gloria to see the cats, and she also like Jeni recognized a unique makeup, pattern and behaviour of the cat. In 1984 Jeni expressed fear that the breed might not survive in Kenya due to many administrative difficulties. Gloria Moeldrup then decided to move a breeding pair to Denmark, where in 1984, Sokoke cats where shown for the first time in Copenhagen and in 1985 they had their first litter. From then on came the long journey to recognition, in 1990 Gloria Moeldrup imported three more cats from Watamu to strengthen the breeding stock. The aim to start with was to breed enough cats to keep the breed alive and healthy. Then in November 1992 the judges committee of FIFe looked at nineteen Sokoke Cats representing five generations. There are now (1997) about 20 breeding Sokoke cats in Denmark, one cat in Italy and three in Holland. It is still extremely rare.

Behavior

It is totally bereft of aggression and only marks with teeth or claws if strongly threatened. All muscles tense if in danger, ready to flee quickly. The Sokoke is a very sensitive cat and swings with the mood of its human. It is active and quite talkative, having a strong voice, it is an independent cat but it much enjoys the company of its' humans. It is a proud and highly intelligent cat and you can communicate at a high level using voice and and body language.