 "Hobbs", a liger The liger is a cross between a male lion and a female tiger. It looks like a giant lion, with diffused tiger stripes. Like tigers (and unlike lions), ligers like swimming.
Ligers exist due to human influence. In natural conditions tigers and lions do not inhabit the same territory so do not have the opportunity to form such a species cross.
(Lions and tigers coexist in the wild today only in the Gir forest of India although their respective ranges used to intersect in Persia, China and perhaps also Beringia.)
Lions and tigers also do not usually want to mate with each other.
Ligers grow much larger than tigers or lions. This is because female lions and male tigers transmit a growth-inhibiting gene to their descendants. Being the offspring of a male lion and female tiger, the liger does not have the growth-inhibiting gene and grows much more. They will grow constantly through their lifespan until their bodies cannot sustain their size anymore. picture (http://www.greenapple.com/~jorp/amzanim/ligersize.jpg)
The liger featured in the photograph is called Hobbs and lives at Sierra Safari Zoo. He is the offspring of an African lion and a Bengal tigress. The staff say, "He roars like a lion and swims like a tiger. He's definitely all cat. He likes to play, and for all his incredible bulk he moves just as silently as any other cat." He is estimated to weigh about 450 kilograms, about twice the average for male Siberian tigers, the largest non-extinct naturally occurring member of family Felidae.
Most ligers are sterile; however, a few births have been recorded.
A cross between a male tiger and female lion is called a tigon.
Ligers in popular culture
- The title character in the movie Napoleon Dynamite declares ligers to be "pretty much" his favorite animals, and states that they are bred for their "skills and magic."
- A variety of mecha in the manga, anime and toy set Zoids is called the Liger.
See also
External links
- Dictionary.com entry on liger (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=liger&r=67)
- Hobbs (http://www.sierrasafarizoo.com/animals/liger.htm) at the Sierra Safari Zoo
- Sudan (http://www.tigers-animal-actors.com/about/liger/liger.html) at T.I.G.E.R.S.
- Patrick (http://www.shambala.org/biographies/patrick.htm) at the Shambala Preserve
- Liger cubs (http://zoo-arche-noah.de/arche_noah_liger_1.htm) at Noah's Ark Zoo (German)
- Hybrid Animals (http://www.greenapple.com/~jorp/amzanim/crossesa.htm) at Amazing Animals
- Hybrid Big Cats, pages 1 (http://members.aol.com/jshartwell/hybrid-bigcats.html) and 2 (http://members.aol.com/jshartwell/hybrid-bigcats2.html)
- Napoleon Dynamite quote about ligers (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374900/quotes#qt0122824) from IMDb.
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