The offspring of a male lion and a female tiger, the liger is a large golden-colored cat with spots on the forehead, pale OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAstriping along the back, and—in some males—a rudimentary mane. These massive cats, which average around 1000 lbs and stand nearly twelve feet tall on their hind legs, have larger, thicker bones and longer teeth than both lions and tigers. In a natural situation, female lions possess the gene that limits growth while in tigers it is the male; thus, ligers (as the progeny of a male lion and a female tiger) do not receive a copy of the gene from either parent and, consequently, suffer from gigantism, very quickly outgrowing both their mother and father. A ninety day-old liger cub, for instance, is about a month ahead of its tiger counterpart in terms of size; by the time it is fully grown, the liger will be nearly double the size of an adult Siberian tiger, making it the largest cat in the world. Currently, the record for the biggest non-obese liger is approximately 900 lbs, though other cats have tipped the scale at 1200 and even 1600 lbs. Height-wise, an adult liger is typically about 4.5 ft tall at the shoulder and 6 ft tall at the tips of the ears when standing. To sustain such a large body, the liger requires an average of 25 lbs of meat per day—more than double the diet of a typical lion or tiger in captivity.
The liger’s increased growth rate and enormous size, for instance, can cause the tigress giving birth to have a difficult delivery, endangering both the mother and her liger cubs, which may be born prematurely or require a Caesarian. Common problems in cubs that survive are neurological disorders, obesity, genetic defects, and a shortened lifespan; though a few have reportedly made it to their twenties, many don’t survive past the age of seven. Moreover, male ligers have lowered testosterone levels and sperm counts, rendering them infertile while females, though capable of reproducing with either a lion or a tiger, often give birth to sickly cubs that don’t survive.
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