While there is only a handful of ligers in the world, the people’s interest for them is becoming higher by the day. This fascinating hybrid species is both intriguing and fascinating, since ligers have some pretty unique features and characteristics. They are a hybrid cross between male lions and tigresses and are now the largest felines ever known. With such amazing species as parents, the result of their crossbreed could not be less phenomenal.
The most interesting thing about ligers is that they have inherited the best of both parents. They resemble both the lions and the tigers, but they only got the good parts from these species.
1. Ligers enjoy swimming, just like tigers. Lions are not fond of the water and can barely swim.
2. Ligers are very sociable, just like lions. Tigers do not socialize and tend to be more solitary. However, as there are not many ligers in the world, they live a solitary life in captivity, usually in zoos or sanctuaries. They are always surrounded by people (either caregivers or zoo visitors), so they are not utterly alone.
3. Ligers have an amazing speed, of about 50 mph (80 km/h) and even 60 mph in some cases. This capability of speeding themselves comes from their mothers. Lions are also fast, but not as fast as tigers. Therefore, they have become the second-fastest feline runners in the world, topped only by the cheetah. This may be hard to believe, considering their impressive size and large bodies. However, it is their large bodies and heavy weight that helps them reach such a speed.
4. Ligers can grab the prey down, precisely because of their speed and strength. They can also hunt big preys, which is a characteristic of both lions and tigers.
5. Ligers can be ambush hunters, just like their parents. This means that they use their natural cover to stalk their victims up close until making the move and attacking.
6. Ligers tend to inherit the lions’ physical appearance. They look like giant lions with muted stripes or spots running through it. The spots come from the lion and the stripes come from the tigress.
7. Ligers roar like lions and chuff like tigers. The grunt at the end is clearly a lion “trademark”. It is very interesting how they make both lion and tiger sounds.
Even though they have inherited so many great features from their parents, ligers grow much larger than either parent. In average, they can reach over 1000 pounds (450 kilos) in weight and more than 12 ft (6.7 meters) in length, which makes them about 40% larger than their parents. This is normal for all crossbreeds, since hybridization often leads to gigantism.
Clearly, ligers get the best of both parents. They are quite lucky, since this is rarely the case with hybrid species. They also look amazing and have an impressive figure, which makes them extremely appealing for numerous people. After all, not everyday they get the chance to see such freaks of nature. Or, better said, freaks of scientists who one day thought: “how about we make a hybrid?”. Luckily, their experiment did not result in a horrible mutation, but in a beautiful animal which is a real treat for the eye.