The origin of the Savannah breed began with the cross between the African Serval and a domestic cat. The name of the breed derives from the usual residence of the African Serval: the Savanna grasslands of Africa.
The first known Savannah cats were achieved in the USA and it is thought that Bengal Breeder Judee Frank successfully mated a domestic (siamese) cat with an African Serval to produce the first F1 hybrid cat of its kind on 7th April 1986.
Another enthusiast Patrick Kelly came to work with Frank in developing this successful mating into a new domestic breed of cat. The purpose of this would be to provide people with an exotic looking cat with a wild heritage but a domestic temperament.
Patrick Kelly then approached many breeders who owned Servals with the hope of getting them on board in developing the breed. Very few breeders were interested but Kelly did successfully persuade Joyce Sroufe to join him in his efforts.
In 1996 Patrick Kelley and Joyce Sroufe wrote the original version of the Savannah breed standard and presented it to the board of The International Cat Association (TICA). In 2001, the board accepted the breed for registration. The Savannah is now shown at TICA shows in the Advanced New Breed Class, and breeders are currently working toward Championship status, which will hopefully be achieved in the next few years.
Joyce Sroufe went on to become a very successful Savannah breeder and is often credited with being the founder of this breed. With her extensive knowledge and skills in cat breeding, she produced more Savannahs than any other breeder at the time and was the first to breed down to the later generations and produce fertile males. She provided breeding females and fertile males to other Savannah breeding programs and many of today's Savannah cats originate from the lines developed by her at A1 Savannahs (formally New Horizon Bengals).
Savannahs were not introduced to the United Kingdom until the late 1990's making them a relatively new breed of cat here and with their elegant, exotic looks and interactive personalities, they are now said to be the most sought after companion animal in the world today.
Much of the information above has been sourced from Wikipedia and Savannahcat.com.