Sierra Safari Zoo

Hobbs, excuse the drool.

Hobbs, our male liger.

Animal Bytes

Ligers do not occur in the wild, they result only from captive breeding. This is not because it is impossible, just extremely unlikely as the two species ranges overlap only slightly and a tiger would not be likely to associate with a pride of lions.

The liger is potentially the largest cat that currently exists in the world, typically larger than either of its parent species.

Liger

(no official scientific name, but could be Panthera leo/tigris)

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Hobbs lying by his log.

Hobbs relaxing in the shade on a hot day.

General information
A liger is the result of breeding a male lion with a female tiger. It has stripes and spots. The spots are inherited from the lion parent even though adult lions do not appear to be spotted.
The liger is a hybrid cat that inherits most of the strengths of both parent species and is larger than either. If you haven't seen a liger before, come visit Hobbs to get a look at the biggest cat you are ever likely to have seen. By way of size comparison, male Siberian tigers (the largest non-extinct naturally occurring member of the cat family, Felidea) average between 400 and 600 pounds. We estimate Hobbs to weigh about twice that.
All ligers are presumed to be born sterile. This is not unusual for hybrids. Mules are the result of breeding a horse with a donkey and are also presumed to be sterile, although there is an occasional, extremely rare, exception.
Hobbs: Hobbs, with a mane like a lion, the long body of a tiger, and more mass than either, is a striking animal. He exhibits traits of both parents, his mother was a Bengal tigress and his father an African lion. He roars like a lion and swims like a tiger. He's definitely all cat. He likes to play, and for all his incredible bulk he moves just as silently as any other cat.
A note about ligers and tigons: A cat born to a tiger father and a lion mother is known as a Tigon. Tigons are very similar to ligers in many ways, but are quite a bit different also. We know of at least one documented instance of a tigon being born fertile. The offspring was fathered by a tiger so it was called a ti-tigon. We have been presented with other examples of tigon/liger ofspring, including a very nice looking female tig-liger.
This note is presented for informational purposes only. We do not have a tigon at Sierra Safari Zoo nor do we expect Hobbs to sire any cubs.