Cat breed

Sokoke

Origin: Kenya

Also known as: African Shorthair, Sokoke Forest Cat

The Sokoke is a natural breed of domestic cat, developed and standardised, beginning in the late 1970s, from the feral khadzonzo landrace of eastern, coastal Kenya. The Sokoke is recognised by several major cat pedigree registry organisations as a standardised cat breed. It is named after the Arabuko Sokoke National Park, the environment from which the foundation stock was obtained, for breed development primarily in Kenya and Denmark. The cat is long-legged, with short, coarse hair, and typically a blotched tabby coat, though specific lineages have produced different appearances. Although once rumoured to be a domestic × wildcat hybrid, genetic study has not borne out this belief. Another idea, that the variety is unusually ancient, remains unproven either way. The native khadzonzo population is closely related to an island-dwelling group, the Lamu cat, further north.