Lions, tigers and ligers
by Don Batten
The pictures [available only in Creation magazine] show dad lion, mum tigress and ‘liger’ cubs. Since
the pair came together in 1997 in the Samsung Everland safari park in South Korea, they
have produced 17 cubs.1 Such hybrids probably do not occur in the wild, largely because
lions and tigers do not live in the same areas. Ligers grow to become the largest cats
in the world—up to half a tonne in weight—bigger than either parent. Did God
create lions and tigers separately on Day 6 of Creation Week? That they readily
hybridize suggests that lions and tigers may have descended from the same original
created kind—just as chihuahuas and great danes have both been bred from an
original wolf kind. Female ligers can often mate successfully with a lion or a tiger,
but male ligers are apparently infertile.2 References
- Kelly, J., Roar passion, The Sunday Mail (Brisbane), 24 March 2004, p.
47.
- Ligers, <www.lairweb.org.nz/tiger/ligers2.html>, 17 September 2004.
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