Liger facts:
-
Liger is a possible result of breeding a male lion with a tigress.
-
Tigon is a possible result of breeding a male tiger with a lioness.
-
Lions and Tigers do not exist in the same areas on Earth, this is not
something that happens in the wild. It is mainly done in
captivity.
- Ligers are usually larger than their parents.
This fact puts the tigress at great risk in carrying the young and
may require C-section deliveries or the Tigress could even die.
-
Ligers have the best qualities of the Tiger and the best of the Lion.
Liger fact is that they like to stay in the water (and this is specific
Tiger trait) but also are very social animals (specific Lion trait).
- But also these cats
suffer from many birth defects and most of the time die young.
- The head of a Liger
looks more like Lion's head. Also, the tail is more like the tail of
a Lion.
- The exact life span of Ligers is unknown. A female
Liger called Shasta, was born at Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. Shasta
died at the age of 24. A male Liger – named Nook - who lived in
Valley of the Kings animal sanctuary in Wisconsin died at the age of
21.
- For a long time, both Ligers and Tigons were thought to be
sterile. But in 1943, a fifteen-year-old hybrid between a Lion and an
Island Tiger, was successfully mated with a Lion at Munich Hellabrunn
Zoo. Although the female cub had delicate health, it was raised to
adulthood.
- Ligers weight about a thousand pounds (450 kg.)
each, they typically devour 50 pounds (23 kg.) of raw meat in just
one meal.
- Lion-Tiger mating occurs in captivity. Probably for
the same reason humans do not breed with monkeys like gorillas or
chimps.
- However, historically, the Asiatic subspecies of Lion
had a much greater range of inhabited areas that overlapped with
that of the Tiger. So it is possible, though unlikely, that Ligers
might have sometimes occurred in the wild.
