Liger | The gigantic hybrid of Lion and Tigress

Do you ever hear about Liger? The largest of the world’s felines. Liger offspring is a result of breeding male Lion and Tigress. On the other hand, the breeding of male Tiger and Lioness will result Tigon. Actually, they are half Lion and half Tiger. The next question is “how?” because lions and tigers do not exist in same areas in the world (Except Gir Forest reserve in India, but there are no Ligers recorded). Therefore, you will realize this hybridization has human involvement. This crossbreeding happens in captivity.

Liger is an enormous, gigantic animal with a large muscular body. It is bigger than both parents (Mr. Lion and Mrs. Tiger). Liger has more like their father. On the other hand, Tigons are the opposite of Ligers. Fur is a similar color to the father (Lion) and also has stripes like its mother (Tiger) but they are faded. Liger may have manes but it is not big or awesome looking as Lions.  

There are rumors about wild Ligers in history because Asiatic Lion once spread huge area of Asia. Therefore, they were able to walk into Tiger territory. Today, there are records of Ligers in wild. All of them are living in captivity. They are carnivores like their parents. If this gigantic animal lived in the jungle, it will need an Elephant for breakfast. In captivity, they eat an average of 20 lbs. of meat in a day.  

Now the biggest question. How they became so bigger than their parents. The answer is in Genetics. This phenomenon is called Imprinting. In short, imprinting is a process where the DNA in sperm and eggs are modified even before fertilization. This can switch parts of the DNA “on” and other parts “off”. The problem is Imprinting of DNA of Lions and Tigers is different. These differences evolved due to their lifestyle.

Lions and Tigers have different lifestyles. Lions live in small groups called prides and tigers are more solitary animals. Lioness in pride can mate with any male in the pride. Therefore, her children could have multiple fathers. Don’t worry. Simba is Mufasa’s son. However, there is an incentive for males in pride to have the biggest cub because everyone wants their cubs to be better than other cubs. It’s in their genes. They encourage the growth of the cub.

On the other hand, Lioness wants all the cubs to have equal rights. She wants them to have an equal chance of surviving. Therefore, her genes fight against this growth enhance, limiting it. If all the cubs are medium size, she can have a successful pregnancy and good care for cubs.

When it comes to Tigers, they are solitary animals as I mentioned earlier. Tigress only mates with one Tiger at a time. Therefore, both parents want all cubs to have an equal chance of surviving. They don’t have problems like lions. Tigress doesn’t have that growth-limiting gene because it is unnecessary. Now you are able to understand the reason.  When Lion mates with Tigress, Lion gives the growth encouraging genes and Tigress has no defense against this gene. She is unable to limit this enhanced growth of the cub. Sometimes the hybrid offsprings can be unhealthy. Tigons can experience dwarfism while gigantism is known to occur in ligers.

               Unlike the parents, Liger is known to have a relatively gentle and docile nature, particularly when interacting with handlers. They still don’t have a scientific name. It could be Panthera leo × Panthera tigris. Since they are not existing in natural habitats, they have no threats. Definitely no predators. Therefore, conservation is not required for them. However, Liger breeding is banned in some countries especially in Taiwan. Also, there are some protests against creating Ligers in the world. They highlight the fact of the gigantism of Ligers and also the probability of resulting health problems.

               “Hercules” the Liger is the biggest Liger in the world. Not only that. He holds the Guinness World Record for World’s Largest Living Cat. He lives in Myrtle Beach Safari, a wildlife reserve in South Carolina, USA. He measures 3.33 m (131 in), stands 1.25 m (49 in) at the shoulder, and weighs 418.2 kg (922 lb.) according to the Guinness World Record. Furthermore, he eats around 13.6 kg (30 lb.) of meat every day, washed down with several liters of water.

               You may have another question. Are there any other hybrids like this? The answer is yes. Jaglion (Male Jaguar + Female Lion), Leopon (Male Leopard + Female Lion), Grolar Bear also called Pizzly Bear (Polar Bear + Brown Bear), Coywolf (Coyote +Wolf), Wholphin (Male False Killer Whale + Female Bottlenose Dolphin), Narluga (Narwhal + Beluga) and the list goes on. Some of them are natural and extremely rare.

-Naturalist Bro-

Photo credits to the original owners