Ligers
• A liger is the result of breeding a male lion with a female
tiger. It has stripes and spots. The spots are inherited from the lion
parent even though adult lions do not appear to be spotted. The spots
that show on baby lions are generally retained on adult ligers.
• Ligers do not occur in the wild. They
result only from captive breeding, as they do not share the same areas
of habitat.
• Ligers are presumed to be born sterile.
This is not unusual for most all types of hybrids. Most folks are familiar
with mules which are the result of breeding a horse with a donkey and
are also presumed to be sterile.
• Ligers do attain massive size, seeming
to get the strength and size from both parents. We estimate Curley and
Disel to weight in at 800 to 850 lbs each and there are ligers on record
that make these boys seem like runts!
• Many ligers show a very non-lionish trait
in that they do enjoy being 'hosed down' with water - some really enjoying
flat out soaking in a pool.
• As for their vocalizations, Curly and
Diesel roar with our lions. We have never heard them chuff, though many
ligers are known to do both.
All photographs © Big Cats of Serenity
Springs. All rights reserved.
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