Ten foot tall "LIGER" - part lion; part tiger; weighs half a ton and is still growing!

Email | MAY 27, 2005 | Unknown

[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!

[Fruitbat]

One of these days that thing is gonna PMS and one of those two or someone else, perhaps several, are gonna get ripped to shreds.

[Finny]

Heya, Spike? Hey, Spike? Wanna go beat up a cat, huh Spike? Huh?

Spike's my hero because he's so big and strong!

[Shooter 2.5]

Part lion, part tiger, he is not just a big cat but a huge one, standing 10ft tall on his back legs.

[Caipirabob]

One of these days that thing is gonna PMS and one of those two or someone else, perhaps several, are gonna get ripped to shreds.

Agreed. The best place for one of these things is on the floor or on the wall.

[investigateworld]

"One of these days that thing is gonna PMS and one of those two or someone else, perhaps several, are gonna get ripped to shreds".

Can we leave my ex out of this conversation please?

[The Red Zone]

I have to wonder, was that photoshopped? I can't imagine how they have the gal doing the "sweet kitty" on a cat that weighs an order of magnitude more than her. Maybe he's sedated.

[I still care]

When I look at the picture where it is standing on it's legs, it seems to have a body type more of the tiger than the lion.

A Siberian tiger is about 650 lbs, which is quite a bit bigger than the lion.

[I still care]

"That woman must be quite brave, or stupid, or both to keep her head that close to the Liger's."

That was my first thought looking at the picture. Then I realized that thing is so big distance is probably not much of a protection. If that thing decided to eat you, you would probably need quite a head start.

[alnick]

He's certainly well fed.

[Bullish]

He looks like a sweetheart!

[Fruitbat]

LOL...

Sorry! ;)

[GunRunner]

Wouldn't mind her doing the "sweet kitty" on yours truly.

[hineybona]

Yea a lot of wild animals look sweet..As pretty as it is it's stil a WILS animal and therefore VERY dangerous.

[hineybona]

WILD I meand ,,geeeeze I gotta start wearing these glasses,

[Bullish]

Unquestionably very dangerous.

It's funny how this one still looks like a lovable, cuddly cat.

[Mr. Jeeves]

I can't imagine how they have the gal doing the "sweet kitty" on a cat that weighs an order of magnitude more than her.

She probably raised the liger from a cub and bottle-fed it, so it sees her as part of the cat family. Doesn't mean it wouldn't see a stranger as recreational calories, though. ;)

[JennyG]

Now that is one scary cat!

[HiTech RedNeck]

Where does a 1000 lb. kitty sit? Anywhere it wants to....

[chaosagent]

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[NorseWood]

I had other sources of food in mind.