Ligers! I've been learning about ligers this week - father is a lion, mother is a tiger. Apparently, male lions have genes for large growth but a mother lion has genes that inhibit them. With a tiger mother, the genes are not inhibited and ligers get HUGE! Crazy huge! 10 -12 feet long, weighing up to 1000 pounds! Ligers seem to only exist in captivity since lions and tigers don't naturally co-exist in the same habitat. Also, because of their large size, they might not fare well in the wild since they would tire easily while chasing prey and require massive amounts of meat.
I had only heard of ligers from watching "Napoleon Dynamite" years ago. Last weekend I read an article about how a local pet lion had escaped his cage and was chasing cars at rush hour. I was surprised to learn that in Ohio it is completely legal to have pet lions and that lion cubs can be purchased for as little as $1000 (which is less than the price of some purebred puppies!). The local lion owner had bought 2 cubs when he suffered from a bout of depression years back. Hmmm many people just take meds.... Anyhow, researching lions led to reading about ligers. (btw - the picture is of Hercules the liger who seems to be something of an internet sensation)
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