I agree that our individual stories and experiences can't be applied to every situation, but as the variables are complex a lot depends on how the sample population is selected. For example, the info below would seem to suggest there is not that much difference in life expectancy for outdoor cats in low risk areas, especially as this stat showing a roughly 20% lower life expectancy is an average and includes cats in high risk areas together with cats in low risk areas. So presumably an outdoor cat in a low risk area would on average live maybe 1 year less than an indoor cat.
https://www.vetinfo.com/indoor-outdoor- ... tancy.html"A pet that spends more time outdoors may live on average 2 to 3 years less than a cat that lives exclusively indoors. In addition, unexpected accidents may end an outdoor cat's life at any time.
Stray and feral cats live significantly less. On average, a stray cat lives 5 years if he is in a community of cats and 2 to 3 years if he lives by himself. This is due to unbalanced nutrition and lack of veterinary treatment and vaccinations. In addition, feral cats may get killed while fighting other wild animals."
And this from one of the main pet insurance providers in the UK- who would probably know what the stats showed for the risks facing well cared for insured pets
https://www.petplan.co.uk/blog/debate-s ... t-indoors/"Yet real scientific evidence that keeping a cat inside prolongs its life is decidedly thin on the ground."
I have done a lot of reading on this and think there is real risks to cats and some areas have them all and some areas have close to none, but there is nothing particularly dangerous in itself about being outside. It is the risk factors a cat is likely to encounter outside that is the potential problem. And these differ place to place and with the personality of the cat. A cat that roams to places no one knows it or picks fights will always be at a higher risk than one who doesn't.
I do live in a unique area. One way it is unique is that there is no longer any feral cats and 5 times more people looking to adopt ordinary kittens than there is available kittens. The SPCA has been very successful in it's spay and neuter programs and 2/3 of the available kittens are pure bred and usually either Bengals, Savannahs, or Ragdolls. So these cats are not that rare around here, and in my opinion Bengals are more obviously beautiful and exotic.... One gorgeous free roaming Bengal lives 1/2 a mile up the road, right close to the road, and he has not been stolen, though he did choose to move in with someone who was not his owner and there was nothing anyone could do about it! He seems to be fine as a free roaming cat now he is neutered. Unless cats are special needs the local SPCA has no stipulations that cats need to be indoors only, and as this is not usually seen as a substantial risk by local vets, if our local SPCA insisted on indoor only adopters, that would be ideological and not based in any reasonable concern for the well being of a cat. And as has been mentioned in other discussions, in the UK many animal welfare organizations make someone agree they will not force a cat to be indoor only. So just because the US does this doesn't mean that is seen as the best thing to do in every area...
Anyways, it is helpful to know that peoples experience with free roaming Bengals is likely to be similar in many ways to free roaming Savannahs. One way I think the breeds do differ is maybe Savannahs tend to be a less inclined to be territorial than Bengals, as by nature they are less shy and more social cats...? Maybe?