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Ten foot tall "LIGER" - part lion; part tiger; weighs half a ton and is still growing!
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| MAY 27, 2005
| Unknown
Posted on 05/27/2005 4:44:50 PM PDT by CHARLITE
How's this for size?
The 10ft Liger who's still growing...
He looks like something from a prehistoric age or a fantastic creation from Hollywood. But Hercules is very much living flesh and blood - as he proves every time he opens his gigantic mouth to roar. Part lion, part tiger, he is not just a big cat but a huge one,standing 10ft tall on his back legs. Called a liger, in reference to his crossbreed parentage, he is the largest of all the cat species.
On a typical day he will devour 200 lb of meat, usually beef or chicken, and is capable of eating 100lb at a single setting. At just three years old, Hercules already weighs half a ton.
He is the accidental result of two enormous big cats living close together at the Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species, in Miami, Florida, and already dwarfs both his parents. "Ligers are not something we planned on having," said institute owner Dr Bhagavan Antle. "We have lions and tigers living together in large enclosures and at first we had no idea how well one of the lion boys was getting along with a tiger girl, then lo and behold we had a liger."
50mph runner... Not only that, but he likes to swim, a feat unheard of among water-fearing lions. In the wild it is virtually impossible for lions and tigers to mate. Not only are they enemies likely to kill one another, but most lions are in Africa and most tigers in Asia. But incredible though he is, Hercules is not unique. Ligers have been bred in captivity, deliberately and accidentally, since shortly before World War II.
Today there are believed to be a handful of ligers around the world and a similar number of tigons, the product of a tiger father and lion mother. Tigons are smaller than ligers and take on more physical characteristics of the tiger. They have become famous cross-breed.
Look at the size of the head on this thing!
Now that's SOME cat!
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: animals; breed; liger; liontiger; mixed
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1
posted on
05/27/2005 4:44:51 PM PDT
by
CHARLITE
To: CHARLITE
SWEET!
2
posted on
05/27/2005 4:46:15 PM PDT
by
SquirrelKing
(Post first, then read.)
To: spetznaz
3
posted on
05/27/2005 4:48:56 PM PDT
by
nuconvert
(No More Axis of Evil by Christmas ! TLR) [there's a lot of bad people in the pistachio business])
To: CHARLITE
That woman must be quite brave, or stupid, or both to keep her head that close to the Liger's.
Anyone know if Ligers are fertile? Or are they like mules?
4
posted on
05/27/2005 4:48:57 PM PDT
by
razoroccam
(Then in the name of Allah, they will let loose the Germs of War (http://www.booksurge.com))
To: CHARLITE
How interesting! I wonder if the cross between the two breeds has brought up giantism, a comman characteristic in late Paleocene mammals.
To: CHARLITE
Why so big???
1+1 = 2 instead of (1+1)/2 ?
6
posted on
05/27/2005 4:50:46 PM PDT
by
bannie
(The government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend upon the support of Paul.)
To: CHARLITE
Wow, you'd need a swimming pool for a catbox to keep him inside! And he eats how much every day?... How much does Barbara Catbox weigh?
7
posted on
05/27/2005 4:51:37 PM PDT
by
MHGinTN
(If you can read this, you've had life support from someone. Promote life support for others.)
To: CHARLITE
"Look at the size of the head on this thing!"
Oh yeah, the liger caught *my* eye first in that photo...
To: bannie
9
posted on
05/27/2005 4:51:59 PM PDT
by
null and void
(I am my own alter ego...)
To: CHARLITE
Dang, that's a big kitty, and with an appetite of 200 lbs per day, unlikely to become a popular pet.
10
posted on
05/27/2005 4:52:25 PM PDT
by
Dog Gone
To: CHARLITE
Quoth Warner Bros. bully bulldog Spike:
"B-b-b-b-big c-c-c-c-cat ..."
11
posted on
05/27/2005 4:52:48 PM PDT
by
Finny
(God continue to Bless President G.W. Bush with wisdom, popularity, safety and success.)
To: F14 Pilot
12
posted on
05/27/2005 4:52:55 PM PDT
by
nuconvert
(No More Axis of Evil by Christmas ! TLR) [there's a lot of bad people in the pistachio business])
To: CHARLITE
Lions and tigers and apparently bear-skin rugs.
Oh my!
To: null and void
That's why I come in here: Best classroom in the world.
Thank you!
14
posted on
05/27/2005 4:55:07 PM PDT
by
bannie
(The government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend upon the support of Paul.)
To: CHARLITE
Deb: What are you drawing?
Napoleon Dynamite: A liger.
Deb: What's a liger?
Napoleon Dynamite: It's pretty much my favorite animal. It's like a lion and a tiger mixed... bred for its skills in magic.
15
posted on
05/27/2005 4:55:45 PM PDT
by
FReepaholic
(When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading)
To: Dog Gone
Dang, that's a big kitty, and with an appetite of 200 lbs per day, unlikely to become a popular pet....here. But in areas with overpopulation...
To: Diddle E. Squat
Liger could eat Princess there and be hungry again by noontime.
17
posted on
05/27/2005 4:56:56 PM PDT
by
Swanks
To: bannie
In tigers, the gene for growth regulation is supplied by the male. In lions, it's from the female. Since this animal has a tiger for a mother and a lion for a father, it didn't get the gene from either parent. (Heard this on Discovery the other day.)
18
posted on
05/27/2005 4:57:14 PM PDT
by
Redcloak
(Over 16,000 served.)
To: CHARLITE
That kitty seems very domesticated.
19
posted on
05/27/2005 4:57:23 PM PDT
by
rdb3
(One may smile and smile and still be a villain.)
To: nuconvert
Viking Kitty recruitment material?
20
posted on
05/27/2005 4:57:40 PM PDT
by
investigateworld
( God bless Poland for giving the world JP II & a Protestant bump for his Sainthood!)
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