Tigers and lions are two animals considered the kings of the jungle. They all possess strength and authority that all creatures fear. So if the two mate, what kind of “hybrid child” will they produce?

Lions and tigers can mate with each other, creating strange “hybrid children”, which are very few in number in the world. They have characteristics of both tigers and lions such as black stripes and dark orange color, but also have strange details, if you look closely you will see “wrong”.

Most lion and tiger cubs will have birth defects, die after birth or have unusual sizes when they grow up. They also have difficulty interacting with lions and tigers because their behavior is a mixture of both species.

Hybrids of lions and tigers have two species: Liger (male lion + female tiger), called liger and Tigon (male tiger + female lion), called liger. In addition, if these two “hybrid” species continue to mate with each other, they will create many other variations such as Ti-liger (German tiger + female Liger), Ti-tigon (male tiger + female tigon), Li-liger (male lion + female liger), Li-tigon (male lion + female tigon).

As of 2019, there are about 100 Ligers and less than 100 Tigons in the world. They exist mainly in zoos and wildlife reserves.

Liger

The scientific name of the liger is Panthera leo × Panthera tigris. They are a cross between a male lion and a female tiger. This animal is the largest in the cat family, with an average weight of more than 320kg. In 1973, Guinness records recorded a male liger in South Africa weighing 798kg, also the heaviest weight in the cat family.

The reason this species has such a huge weight is because its growth is genetically altered. Male lions have extremely strong growth genes, but female tigers do not have corresponding growth-limiting genes. Therefore, lions and tigers weigh more than their parents. Some scientists believe that ligers can continuously increase in size throughout their lives.

Lion tigers have stripes on their bodies and like to swim like their tiger mother. However, the fur has a characteristic sand color like the lion’s father. Male ligers are infertile, but female ligers are still able to reproduce normally and can mate with purebred lions or tigers to create a new generation of ligers. Currently, ligers are mainly born thanks to human influence.

Tiger (Tigon)

The tiger lion has a tiger father and a lion mother. In contrast to lions, this species does not inherit growth genes but only takes growth-inhibiting genes from its parent tiger. So their weight is quite low. However, there have been cases where tiger lions have a huge weight of up to 363kg, a shoulder height of 1.32m, and a body length of 3.5m.

The current number of tiger lions is less than that of tiger lions. Tigers resemble hybrid cats, often suffering from neurological defects, infertility, arthritis, organ failure, cancer, and short lifespan.