by Joanne L McGonagle

Created on: March 18, 2009

A Liger is a hybrid cat, a cross between a male lion and a female tiger, whose name is derived from its birthright: "LI" from lion and "ger" from tiger. The liger is not a species and is unable to produce fertile offspring as the male ligers are sterile. The interspecies breeding causes the liger to be a weakened offspring afflicted with a short lifespan, genetic aberrations and neurological defects (head shakes in cubs!). The mating of a male lion and a female tiger bypasses the growth inhibiting gene that is carried by the female lion and the male tiger, resulting in a cub that can grow up to be twice as big as either of its parents. The adult liger can amass a weight of over one thousand pounds and a length of greater than twelve feet. The liger's appearance is indicative of its origin with a tawny coat marked by faint stripes. The male liger may grow a rudimentary mane. Characteristics of the liger can be a mix of the two species; a liger likes to swim like tigers and is social like a lion that lives in a pride. A liger's vocalizations are more like the roar of a lion, but may also make chuffing sounds like a tiger.

Lion-tiger mating occurs only in captivity, not in the wild. Wild tigers mainly inhabit Asia, whereas the lion's natural habitat is almost entirely in Africa. Therefore, lion and tiger habitats do not meet. Claims are made that the two species overlap in the Gir National Park and Lion Sanctuary in Bangladesh, however tigers are not found within one hundred miles of Gir Forest. The rare and facing extinction Asiatic lion lives within the sanctuary. There are only a few hundred Asiatic lions remaining and the only lion subspecies found outside of Africa. The Gir Forest is surrounded by farming and agriculture. The lions within the sanctuary are "confined in the wild" and tigers are not keen on crossing large stretches of open ground. The possibility exists that a tiger could cross into lion territory, but the solitary tiger would not be predisposed to join in with a social pride of lions. With the exception of mating periods, tigers even avoid their own species.

Throughout history, animals fitting the description of a liger have been rumored to have been sighted in the forests of India. It is impossible to make the claim that a wild liger has never occurred, but a liger has never been officially documented in the wild. Until that documentation happens, ligers in the wild will remain a legend.

Conscientious and trustworthy animal captivity programs and zoos do not try to mate lions and tigers. Experts worldwide condemn the breeding of ligers as an unhealthy practice. Big Cat Rescue, a non -profit educational sanctuary devoted to rescuing and providing a permanent home for exotic wild cats that have been abused, abandoned, bred to be pets, retired from performing acts, or saved from being slaughtered for fur coats and to educating the public about these animals and the issues facing them in captivity, calls the breeding of ligers a despicable act that is carried out as strictly a commercial ploy.

Source:

Big Cat Rescue www.bigcatrescue.org

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