Why breed ligers

Meet our past liger friend Freckles. This lion and tiger had been raised together for the bad purpose of creating ligers. Big Cat Rescue does not condone the breeding of ligers. These news stories are posted so that you can help us educate people as to why it is cruel to breed ligers and tigons. We all need to be more aware of the footprint we each leave on the enviroment… they all add up. They are indeed amazing animals but in the end they are hybrids.

I find the practice of breeding them appalling. What do you think about it? Judging by this article. This situation is quite serious.

Why on earth are people so stupid to breed tigers and lions together even for "commercial" purposes or any purpose is ridiculous.

It's a good thing you are encouraging a clamping down on this practice and repudiating it. Lewis, I can understand IF it was an accident, but usually it is done delibrately in most cases.

To prevent the accident, the zoo shouldn't be so careless. The liger is a hybrid that is NOT born sterile which is highly unusual for hybrid species produced in captivity which leads many scientists to believe that there was a possibility at one time long ago when geography and man was not an obstacle for these animals to breed.

It isn't uncommon in evolutionary cycles for animals of subspecies to breed for survival. Just look at purebred dogs and cats and the genetic health risks that come along with many of the breeds. As for the existing ligers, they should definitely be protected by law. But seeing the near extinction of both tiger and lion species in the future, perhaps we can learn something from ligers after all.

Wow, quite a lot wrong with this comment. Only female ligers are not sterile, male ligers are. Mixed breed dogs are NOT hybrids, all dog breeds belong to the same species. Same with cats and cat breeds. A german shepherd and a border collie are both members of the same exact species, so breeding them together does not make a hybrid. And yeah, they used to breed together; because they share a common ancestor and were once only a single species.

It should be noted that big cats like all cats are stimulation ovulators. What this means, is that while the female goes into heat whenever their cycle normally dictates, they do not ovulate release eggs unless stimulated by certain events in the act of mating, meaning that the animals in question have to both first be amicable to the mating a female that wants none of it could easily fend of a male, even in the case of tigons. Artificial insemination is not possible with big cats, other wise it would be far easier for zoos to bring their numbers back up.

That being said, it is irresponsible for those who know of the possibility of cross-breeding to have tigers and lions or any multiple species mixes for that matter in the same pens together and not have them neutered or spayed. If the intention of having multiple animals in one pen is breeding, it should only be with members of the same species, so as build up numbers they ARE endangered after all.

There are a few 'facts' in the is articular which I believe may be less well researched than the author thinks, despite good intentions. MMM Well I thought these animals were stunningly beautiful and I would of paid top dollar to see them close up.

I would of been in the front row watching them but now after seeing this Video that's has all changed Well done to the lady who made it.. She definitely change my outlook on these BIG Cats… SO now I need to know "Why do they keep breeding these Cats cant they be stopped" as this is Animal Cruelty, if what she is saying is correct, all the defects in these Cats should be enough for animal welfare groups to pounce on them all.

Next thing we will all be having Designer Babies scary stuff alright. It's a terrible thing when people forcibly make some special kind of breed only for profit and experimentation. I never knew how tigress' could die of childbirth. Wow it's more about how ligers look, but it's their life that really counts. People have been doing it to dogs and cats for hundreds of years… for example, a Shar Pei must have a C-section because the pups are bred to have large heads; so large, she can't give natural birth.

I'm all for protecting Tigers and Lions, don't get me wrong. And this does need to stop. I just wanted to point out, that it is no more cruel than what we do to our best furry friends in our homes. I think its terrible! Poor animals. Ppl trying to play GOD!!! I say that's God job to create…nothing good can come of inter breeding and I'm not talking about people…Animals its cruel and inhumane …make it stop.

Respect life as it exists naturally in the wild. Let them remain free and true to their natures…It is the decent thing to do. It is impossible for humans to interbreed with simians. A more accurate analogy is white and black people interbreeding and producing mullatos, but it's racist to criticise that.

White and black people are members of the exact same species. The most similar thing to that is different dog breeds interbreeding which are also of the same species to produce mixed breeds which are often more healthy than purebreds. Why are so many people so shocked about these inter breeds? Man constantly tries to play a god in our lives. They have not been educated on why this practice is so bad. In the same way, many people will still pay money to hold a baby tiger, to swim with it or take photos with them.

I did not like that the article started by saying that disreputable carnies breed these. Like the carnies were the sole cause of breeding these animals. Much further down in the article it list the animals come from the Circus, Zoo, and Private Owners.

It is not solely carnies. Also, circus people are NOT most carnies. Carnies are usually working for Carnivals. Most carnivals do NOT have animals. If they do it is because an independent owner booked in with the fair board ran by the city, county, or state they are having the fair in. I have never seen or heard of a FAIR breeding any kind of animal. This is heartbreaking. This is just not good. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

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Home Big Cat Facts. Share on twitter Twitter. Share on linkedin LinkedIn. Share on email Email. Share on pinterest Pinterest. Share on print Print. As with everything, education is the key. Join The Conversation. How To Help. Stay Connected. Join Nearly 3 Million Community Members. In this article, we dive into the exciting world of hybridization, describing how it occurs and what can happen when hybrids have babies. Hybridization is breeding of two different species [ 1 ]. So, for us to look into the world of hybridization, first we must understand what a species is.

Organisms that are the same species are more similar to each other than to organisms from different species. It is easy to tell some species apart, for example a hippopotamus is recognizably a different species from a cheetah see Figure 1.

But what is the difference between a cheetah and a leopard? They are also different species, but a leopard looks very similar to a cheetah. Both live in Africa, are carnivores, cats, and both even have spots. The most commonly used rules to divide organisms into species are called the Biological Species Concept [ 2 ]. These rules consider animals to be different species if they cannot breed together or if they breed together and produce infertile offspring, meaning offspring that cannot have their own babies.

Because a cheetah and a leopard cannot breed together, we consider them two different species. Other rules that divide similar animals or plants into different species are controversial.

Some scientists look for physical differences, for example, differences in beak shape, body color, behavior, habitat, or geographical location. Other scientists use differences in genes to help find different species. Every living organism has genes, which are contained in the DNA and hold the information that tells the body how to work.

Within a species, there will be small differences within genes called mutations. Such mutations are what cause slight differences within a species, like different eye colors in humans. Mutations even determine whether you can roll your tongue or not! Between species, there are far more mutations between genes. It is mutations that cause the differences in beak size or behavior that we see.

If scientists are not sure if two organisms are different species, they can compare and count the mutations, to check. This is what makes you look like a mixture of your parents. A famous hybrid is the mule, a cross between a donkey and a horse. Because of this mixing, mules have features of each parent species and are strong, like donkeys, as well as intelligent, like horses [ 3 ]. Farmers breed mules because this combination makes mules excellent for carrying supplies.

Using hybridization to combine the desirable aspects of each parent species is very beneficial to humans, and hybrids are often used in farming. Many of the delicious fruits you buy at the grocery store were even created through hybridization! Bananas, grapefruit, carrots, and cucumbers are all hybrid species. There are actually hundreds of banana varieties, but most of us are familiar with a hybrid banana.

Farmers kept mixing varieties of bananas to create the perfect combination of soft, tasty fruit without too many seeds [ 4 ]. Mules and bananas are examples of hybrids that are infertile, so they cannot have their own babies.

But surprisingly, there are many examples of hybrids that actually can have babies. This happens when the hybrid mates with another hybrid, or with the same species as one of its parents.