Liger Cubs

A liger cub is a hybrid offspring of a male lion and a female tiger (tigress). Liger cubs are hybrid animals because, they result from crossbreeding of two distinctive big cat breeds from same genre. Lions and Tigers are two distinct breeds of big cats and therefore; whenever they will mate together their offspring will always be a hybrid. Liger cubs are very rare because they do not exist in the wild.

Liger cubs are born at different zoos and animal sanctuaries around the world. The first ever litter of the liger cubs in the world was born in India (British Sub-continent). These liger cubs were born in 1799. According to LIGERWORLD website, on average 10 to 15 liger cubs are born each year at different animal captivities globally. Whereas; majority of these liger cubs are born in United States, China and Russia.

When it comes to their growth, liger cubs are faster than any other big cat cubs in the world. Usually; the first three years are the growing years for the liger cubs and other big cat cubs. During these first three years, the liger cubs on average grow at a rate of around one pound per day. On the other hand; lion cubs and tiger cubs grow at around half a pound per day. Furthermore; their average height growth per day is 1.7 millimeters and their average longitudinal length growth is 3 millimeters per day. At the end of its fourth year, a liger cub becomes a fully mature liger and it weighs more than 900 pounds.

At the time of birth, liger cubs are always very healthy. Liger cubs have a very strong immune system and they are free of any natural-born disease. There are some myths which explain that liger cubs have health issues, such as renal function failure, weaker heart, physical disability or a troubled nervous system etc. All of these claims are absolutely false and the liger experts strongly deny such myths. According to our observations, liger cubs are born with excellent health. However; poor living conditions directly contribute to the poor health related issues for the liger cubs.

Genetically; the liger cubs at the time of their birth have 38 chromosomes. 19 of these chromosomes come from the father (the male lion) and 19 of these chromosomes come from their mother (the tigress). Similarly; the lion cubs and tiger cubs have 38 chromosomes as well. Therefore; the liger cubs have the same numbers of chromosomes as that of the lion cubs and the tiger cubs. Having equal numbers of chromosomes ensure that a cross-breeding is successfully possible in between the animals belonging to same genre. According to Dr. Bhagavan Antle (A liger expert at Myrtle Beach Safari), a liger cub has the best genes of its father and best genes of its mother combine. This makes them bigger, stronger and healthier than any other big cat cubs.

A variant genre of a liger cub, is a liliger cub (Li-Liger cub). A liliger cub has a male lion as its father and a female liger as its mother. A liliger cub is a second-generation hybrid. Liligers and their cubs are extremely rare and only less than 10 of them are alive today. The first ever liliger cub was born in Russia, in 2012. The world�s first male liliger cub was born in G.W. Zoo. This zoo is located at Wynnewood, Oklahoma, USA. The birth of the liliger cubs, also ensures that the ligers (especially the female ligers) are not at all sterile. Liliger cubs have spots on their fur like leopards. Their fur is tawny brown in color.

Another variant of a liger cub, is a tiliger cub (Ti-Liger cub). A tiliger cub has a male tiger as its father and a female liger as its mother. Just like the liliger cubs, the tiliger cubs are also the second-generation hybrids as well. The tiliger cubs are even more rarer than the liliger cubs and there are believed to be less than 5 tiligers alive today. The first ever tiliger cub was born in G.W. Zoo, which is located at Wynnewood, Oklahoma, USA. The appearance of a tiliger cub is more similar to that of a tiger cub or tigers in general. However; a tiger has an orange fur while a tiliger has a brown fur with black stripes over it. One of the world�s famous tiliger is Radar the tiliger which lives at TIGERWORLD animal sanctuary in South Carolina, USA.

The first ever liger cub in USA was Shasta the liger. Shasta was a female liger and she was born in 1948. As a cub, Shasta was very playful and even after growing-up Shasta had a very mild personality. Shasta the liger is the longest living liger in the world. She lived for 24 years which is a world record for a liger to live that much long. Shasta the liger lived at Utah�s Hogle Zoo. You can still watch Shasta the liger�s stuffed body at USA�s Bean Museum. This museum also offers pictures of Shasta the liger as well.

In 2002, the first ever liger cub was born in China. However; that liger cub died after its birth. The first ever litter of surviving liger cub was born in 2004. At that time two liger cubs were born, whose names were Ping Ping and An An. Both the ligers were born at Hainan Topical Wild Animal Park in China�s Hainan province. In 2007, a tigress in China gave birth to a world record for giving birth to record numbers of liger cubs. From 2002 till 2007, the tigress gave birth to 12 ligers out of which 10 are still alive today. Liger cubs are also reported to have born at China�s Shanghai Wildlife Park, Harbin Zoo, Shenzhen Wildlife Zoo and Wuxi Animal Park.

In 2004, Russia introduced its first litter of the liger cubs. Two ligers, one male and one female were born at Novosibirsk region. One of the female liger was later transferred to Russia�s Novosibirsk Zoo. The name of the Russia�s first liger cub was Zita the liger. In 2012, Zita the liger successfully mated with a male lion to give birth to the world�s first liliger cub. In 2013, Zita the liger again gave birth to the world�s rarest liliger cubs. In 2015, a female liger in Russia�s Sochi Zoo also gave birth to liliger cubs as well. Recently in January 2017, a male liger cub was also born in Russia�s Sochi region. Liger cubs have also been reported at Russia�s Kemerovo, Vladivostok and Irkutsk regions as well. Apart from that in 1988, the first litter of liger cubs was born in Germany. Whereas; in 1998, the first litter of liger cubs was born also born in South Korea.

Behaviorally; liger cubs love swimming. They love to stay in water and show a very playful behavior while swimming. Liger cubs inherit their swimming behavior from their mothers i.e., the tigress. Tigers love to swim and they even hunt in water i.e., fishing or catching a trapped prey. Lions on the other hand are always shy of water. They can swim but they prefer to stay away from any adventures in water. Only liger cubs, tiger cubs and jaguar cubs have a preference and love for swimming in the big cat family. Liger cubs start swimming, when they reach the age of around 3 months. According to the big cat experts, swimming is a fundamental activity of the liger cubs� lifestyle, as it keeps them fit and healthy in captivity.

Globally; Myrtle Beach Safari, is the most famous animal safari park for the liger cubs. This animal safari park is located at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA. A total of about 11 liger cubs have born at this safari park. Famous ligers such as Samson, Hobbs, Hercules, Sinbad, Zeus and Vulcan were all born at Myrtle Beach Safari, as liger cubs. Even recently, world�s rarest white liger cubs were also born at Myrtle Beach Safari. This animal safari park has also contributed to the maximum for the promotion of the ligers and liger cubs throughout the world. Myrtle Beach Safari considers liger cubs and ligers as the brand ambassadors for the conservation of the big cat species.

Liger cubs at Myrtle Beach Safari, are usually raised by the female animal trainers. They start caring them as soon as they are born. They are just like their mothers. Among these female animal trainers, Rajani Ferrante is the most senior animal trainer at Myrtle Beach Safari. She has raised more liger cubs than anyone else at the safari park and globally. Rajani Ferrante is currently the director of Myrtle Beach Safari. She is raising liger cubs for more than 20 years now. Samson, Sinbad, Hercules and Zeus the liger which all have bcome one of the biggest ligers in the world, are all raised by Rajani Ferrante. Even recently Rajani Ferrante has also raised one of the world�s rarest white liger cubs as well. A white liger cub has a male white lion as its father, and a female white tigress as its mother.

Moksha Bybee is another female animal trainer at Myrtle Beach Safari, South Carolina, USA. She has raised almost 11 liger cubs so far in her life. Moksha Bybee has been raising liger cubs for more than 15 years now. Moksha Bybee has even appeared within Guinness Book of World Records, along with Hercules the liger. China York also raised Hercules the liger and his brothers when they were small liger cubs. China York has also raised other big cat cubs as well such leopard cubs, lion cubs, tiger cubs, jaguar cubs, caracal cubs and puma cubs as well. Most famously she also appeared along with Aries the liger, who is also the brother of Hercules the liger and the son of Arthur the lion. Recently, Moksha Bybee has also appeared with a litter of four white liger cubs as well. White liger cubs are rarest and only four of them are still alive in the world.

China York is also a famous liger cub trainer at Myrtle Beach Safari. China York has raised almost a dozen of liger cubs since 2002. She dedicatedly takes care of the liger cubs. She can be seen swimming, running, walking, caressing and loving liger cubs at Myrtle Beach Safari. Apart from liger cubs, China York has also raised other big cat cubs as well i.e., tiger cubs, lion cubs, jaguar cubs, leopard cubs and caracal cubs etc. World�s famous and the biggest liger i.e., Hercules the liger, is also raised and tamed by China York as well at Myrtle Beach Safari. Moreover; to her resume, China York has also raised one of the world�s rarest and first ever white liger cubs as well.

Taiwan is the only country in the world that has banned breeding of the liger cubs. In 2010, the first and the only litter of 3 liger cubs were born at one of the zoos in Taiwan. Shortly after the birth of the liger cubs, the authorities confiscated the liger cubs and transferred them to an animal rescue center. Out of three liger cubs, one of them died at the time of birth while another one died after few months. The remaining surviving liger cub now lives at Pingtung Rescue Center in Taiwan. Liger experts believe that the poor facilities were likely to blame the death of the liger cubs.

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