10. Liger / Tigon : Though
they are fascinating animals, they get the last of the list because
they are the most popular known among the hybrids. Ligers are
crossbreeds between a male lion while Tigons are crossbreds between a
male tiger and a female lion. Ligers are the world’s largest cats.
Tigons on the other hand, are prone towards dwarfism and are usually
smaller than either of their parents. Male Ligers/Tigons are sterile
while the females are often fertile. Below shows a liger and its trainer
Dr. Bhagavan Antle at a Renaissance Festival in Massachusetts, USA,
October 2005.
9. Wolf Dog :
Dogs and wolves tend to crossbreed rather freely. The wolf is a shy
animal depending on nuances in body language, facial expression and on
hunting skills to survive. Their jaws are much stronger than those of a
dog and are often used to exert dominance. For a dog wolf hybrid, it is
not known when it will display a wolf behaviour or dog behaviour or
something in between. Obedience training is a must in order to tame the
animal.
8. Iron Age Pig
Domestic Tamworth pigs are crossbred with wild boar to create ‘Iron
Age Pigs’. The hybrids are tamer than wild boar but less tractable than
domestic swine and generally become specialist pork sausages. Most of
them are bred for the specialist meat trade.
7. Zebroid : A zorse is the result of crossbreeding a horse and a zebra. A zonkey is the result of crossbreeding a donkey with a zebra. The Zony is the result of crossbreeding a pony to a zebra. All these three are called zebroids - defined as a cross between a zebra and any other equid. Zebroids are preferred over zebra for practical uses such as riding because of its body shape. However it is more inclined to be temperamental and can prove to be difficult to handle.
A Zorse
A Zony
6. Cama :
A Cama is a hybrid between a camel and a llama. They are born via
artificial insemination due to the huge difference in sizes of the
animals which disallow natural breeding. A Cama usually has the short
ears and long tails of a camel but the cloven hooves of a llama. Also
most noticeably is the absence of the hump.
Rama’s parents shown behind, a camel and llama.
This is Rama the Cama at two days old
Rama at two years of age as a young adult.
5. Grolar, Pizzly :
A grolar/pizzly hybrid is the product of a grizzly bear and a polar
bear. Although the two bears are genetically similar, they tend to avoid
each other in the wild. During 16 April 2006, a hybrid bear was shot
dead by Jim Martell,a hunter from the United States, in Canada. It was
the first time a hybrid was found in the wild where previous records of
grolars or pizzlies have only been found in zoos.
A grolar, pizzly displayed at the Rothschild Museum
4. Leopon :
A Leopon is the result of breeding a male leopard and a female lion.
The head of the animal is similar to that of a lion while the rest of
the bodies carries similarities to leopards. The most successful
breeding programme was at the Koshien Hanshin Park in Nishinomiya City, Japan. Leopons are larger than leopards and likes to climb and enjoy water.
3. Hybrid Pheasant :
The Golden Phesant has commonly been crossed with the similar Lady
Amherst’s Pheasant. The result is a hybrid with distinguished colors
from its parents.
A Golden Pheasant
A Lady Amherst Pheasant
Hybrid Pheasant displayed at Rothschild Museum Copyright Sarah Hartwell
2. Wolphin :
A wolphin is a rare hybrid formed from a cross between a bottlenose
dolphin and a false killer whale. There are currently only two in
captivity at the Sea Life Park in Hawaii. A wolphin’s size, colour and
shape are intermediate between the parent species. The first captive
wolphin was Kekaimalu, which shows mixed heritage even in its teeth:
bottlenose dolphins have 88, false killer whales have 44 and Kekaimalu
has 66!
Kekaimalu, The Wolphin
1. Ti-Liger, Ti-Tigon, Li-Tigon, Li-Liger :
The top spot goes to ti-ligers/ti-tigon/li-tigons/li-ligers because it
is a hybrid among the hybrids. It is a cross breed between a male
tiger and a female liger/tigon or a male lion with a female
tigon/liger. Do note that female ligers or tigons are fertile. They are
extremely rare and are in mostly private ownership within a
behavioural studies programme. In the case of ti-ligers, they have
unusual striping where it breaks up and display a blotchy appearance.
Since they are 3/4 tiger, their characteristics inhibit more of those
of a tiger than a lion.
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