The liger is a hybrid offspring of a male lion and a female tiger. The liger has parents in the same genus but of different species. It is distinct from the similar hybrid tigon, and is the largest of all known extant felines.
Key Facts & Information
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
The liger is the largest of the world’s felines, known to grow up to 12 feet tall when standing on their hind legs. The liger is an enormous animal with a large muscular body and broad head.
Ligers tend to have sandy or dark yellow fur which is covered in distinctive faint stripes inherited from their mother. Although other variations in fur color have been known (including white when their mother is a White Tiger), the liger generally has a more lion-like appearance including the mane of the males.
Along with their stripes, which tend to be most noticeable around their hindquarters, the liger may also inherit the spots found on the backs of tiger’s ears along with the tufted fur around their chins.
HABITAT
Ligers don’t occur in the wild because tigers are mainly found in Asia while lions are mainly in Africa. These two species do not cross paths in the wild. That is why ligers live in zoos, sanctuaries, and with their private owners.
BEHAVIOR
Despite their gigantic size and the fact that their parents are two of the planet’s most ferocious predators, the liger is known to have a relatively gentle and docile nature particularly when interacting with handlers.
They have, however, been reported to be slightly confused as to whether or not they are lions or tigers as their most bewildering characteristic is the fact that they seem to love water.
In the wild, it is common for tigers to enter water either to catch prey or to cool down in the heat and so they are naturally good swimmers, which is something that the liger seems to have inherited.
Another odd thing is the fact that the liger appears to make both lion and tiger noises, but its roar is more like that of a lion.
DIET
Like the rest of the world’s felines, the liger is a carnivorous animal that hunts and kills other animals in order to gain its nutrition.
In captivity, they tend to eat an average of 20 lbs. of meat a day but it is thought that a liger would easily devour 100 lbs worth of food in one sitting.
The liger has an enormous and incredibly strong jaw with sharp, pointed teeth which are ideal for tearing through flesh. Ligers also have very muscular bodies and sharp claws which also help them catch and eat their prey.
PREDATOR AND THREATS
If they were found in the wild, the liger would be the most dominant predator and their environment would therefore have no natural predator to worry about, with the obvious exception of humans. The same as lions and tigers, ligers would be subjected to hunting for trophies.
In captivity, many liger cubs are born with fatal birth defects due to the fact that it is the result of cross-breeding of two different species.
Another problem to consider is the unnatural nature in which ligers are both bred and kept all around the world. It is highly unlikely that ligers can occur in the wild today. They are merely being bred and kept by zoos in order to make money.
RELATIONSHIP WITH HUMANS
The liger has been bred by people since the early 19th century when a litter of liger cubs was born in Asia in 1824. However, it was more than 100 years until the next recorded litter, which was in a zoo in South Africa just before World War II.
Although ligers are known to be even tempered, there remains much controversy over the crossbreeding of two different species, particularly when it happens without human intervention.
Today, there are a number of ligers found in zoos and animal institutes around the world, who are bred (generally by accident) and kept as a money-making attraction.
CONSERVATION
There is no real scientific name assigned to the liger due to the fact that it is made from cross-breeding two separate species artificially. Since it is not found in the wild, the liger has no conservation status.
The liger is found in only a handful of enclosures on the planet but they remain frowned upon by many as they do not exist in the wild and therefore have no value as such to conservation.
Tigons (hybrid cross between a male tiger and a female lion) are more rarely found than ligers today. However, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there were more of them than there were ligers. The breeding of ligers is now banned in a number of countries around the world.
Source: https://kidskonnect.com/animals/liger/
