The internet is AMAZING. I have nothing to do tonight and the weather is terrible, so I was just sitting here knocking around the internet when I remembered that GRC told me about Ligers and Tigons. These are hybrids of Lions and Tigers. Well, when she told me about them I was pretty amazed. I mean why would someone force Lions and Tigers to mate, well, I guess people were obsessed with this kind of thing.

Anyway, I decided to look some pictures up, and HOLY TOLEDO, the combonation of a Lion dad and a Tiger mom is MASSIVE. I'm talking 900 pounds of wild cat! It's HUGE. Check it out! http://www.tigers-animal-actors.com/about/liger/ligerkrf.JPG. On one site it said that the Liger is so big because the growth inhibitor in female lions and make tigers is not present in the parents on a Liger. But, Tigons (Tiger dad and lion mom) are smaller then both parents. Also, the hybrids are NOT sterile. They can have babies with either lions or tigers.

This I find amazing, but you know what blew my mind? It seems that a much lesser known hybrid is the Leopon. It is a hybrid of a male leopard and a Lioness. The most famous case was in a Japanese zoo - there are actual pictures of the leopard and the lioness doing it!

There is another Lion hybrid with a Jaguar. It's called a Jaglion. There are also Jaguar and leopard hybrids.

I think this kind of thing happened because zoo keepers didn't have the internet or TV or friends or something to keep them busy. Still, it's pretty amazing!
- posted by Debbie @ 10:24 PM