What Are People Beliefs On The Liger Do U Think Its Wrong To Mix Breed?

Liger is made by pairing a male Lion and a female Tiger

8 Comments so far

The Cheshire Had this To Say

Short answer…. when it comes to ligers they are 100% WRONG!!!!
The fact that it does not occur in the wild should tell people how wrong it is. On top of that they are bred ONLY out of greed (to pull in money) and many are left, well the DNA is retarded.
EDIT: to RYAN G… you cannot place the growing of corn to feed billions of people per year to someone breeding a liger to sell as a pet or use in a side show. Do not be foolish.
EDIT2: to RYAN G… you still do not understand. Breeding animals that are not supposed to breed does not allow any gain for anyone. To start the animals lose because it messes with their DNA enough that the majority are more or less retarded (for lack of a better word). On top of that people see them and think “oooh neat, i want one”. As of current there are more tigers as “pets” in the US than there are in the wild, we do NOT need to add ligers to that mix. It allows no gain for the public because there is no education in it. It would be different if tigers and lions lived in the same habitat in the wild, or if these hybrids were health but they are not. It only shows people that they can mix animals willy-nilly and get “cool freaks” out of it. When push comes to shove these animals are ONLY bred for money. They cannot be released into the wild, they cannot breed, they cannot help save blood lines. Why do you think that no self respecting zoo houses them in the US… simple, because they are a species that should not be. Zoos are used as an educational and conservational tool in this day and age and they are smart enough to know that ligers do not fall into that. The only way they come close is to show the public what should not be done. Keeping ligers in a zoo and showing them off as something that is natural and good is nothing but ignorance. It turns into nothing more than a cheap freak side show and that is not what most zoos are going for. The only way man has “benefited” (as you put it) from ligers is by drawing in cash… that is it. Also a common ancestor has NOTHING to do with it. Elephants and hyrax are related and share a common ancestor but that does not mean we should try to breed them for profit. There is a reason you have been given four thumbs down and zero thumbs up for your answer… think about it.
EDIT 3: To RYAN… if you took the time to read what I wrote you will see that I said that there was educational vaule in Ligers, but it is negative education. In other words the ligers teach the public about what should NOT be done. It teaches them how when you create hybrids that are not supposed to be that they turn into genetic freaks with mental, reproduction and growth problems. Not all hybrids are bad, some are ver good… heck when push comes to shove all the domestic dogs we have today are forms of hybrids. But in the cases of ligers it is bad, plain and simple. It might be different if people were breeding them to help tigers and lions, but they are bred for money and money alone.
Again the fact that zoos do not keep ligers on exhibit should tell you something. If you do not believe me go to ISIS.org, that will show you that ligers = 0 in participating zoos.
After reading what you have wrote and the fact that you still back your ideas after many people have posted the opposite, along with that clipping that one person posted from Big Cat Rescue I do not understand how you can still see good in these animals… other than the fact that they can be pretty. It also makes me wonder what your educational and work background is. Are you someone who went to college and majored in some form of science or someone who has worked with exotic animals… or are you just some kid who likes to think they know what they are talking about.
LAST EDIT: You really are a lost cause and sadly ignorant to the situation. I am sure if had worked in a zoo or spent time at a exotic or big cat resuce your tune would change.
If you want to believe that ligers are a good thing, fine. If you want to believe that zoos not keeping ligers is a type of fallacy, fine. If you want to go by your own opinions and NOT listen to people who have majored in natural sciences, people who have worked in zoos and exotic feline facilities or big cat facilities themselves (the Big Cat Rescue quote that girl gave), fine. If you want to believe that the few science classes you had to take in college to get your degree in Creative Writing and Political Science gives you great insight into hybrids, fine. Side note, I knew three people in college who majored in that and they had to take two biological science classes to graduate, even then they were 101, 102 classes… people are not so foolish to think you took 4 years of biological sciences to earn a BA in creative writing. It would be like me placing great stock in the ONE political science class I had to take to gratuate with a biological science degree.
Perhaps you should leave the care of exotic animals to the experts and go back to your Library Science degree.
Did my Yahoo error or is Ryans response gone?
The Cheshire Had this To Say

Ryan: You should breed with a Baboon to make a Raboon. The young people would surely come to the zoo to see that. Don’t you want young people to learn about animals?
Your argument and reasoning is very Lame.
papercut Had this To Say

Would these two breeds actualy mate in the wild? IDK, I guess I have mixed feelings about this. But they are beautiful cats.
Daydream Had this To Say

If two different species of animals, such as the lion and tiger, were to bred naturally in their habitats, I would not find myself against it. But such is not the case with lions and tigers. They inhabit two different continents–with tigers in Asia and lions primarily in Africa, with exception to the Asiatic lion–and naturally would not mingle with one another because of the separation of their location. Even with the Asiatic lion, the chances of it crossing a tiger and trying to reproduce with it would be very rare.
Also, if two different species were bred and the result of the interspecies breeding was a hybrid that was physiologically and genetically strong, I MIGHT not find myself in opposition of it. But there have been health and genetic problems with the offspring of these two species being crossbred, and because the hybridization was undertaken in the pursuit of financial gain, I am opposed to it. They are still beautiful creatures, don’t get me wrong, but when you take into consideration the fact that ligers develop more health problems than regular lions or tigers, and that their life-expectancy is decreased, is it really worth it? Just because we are curious or because there is the potential for economic gain in zoos that exhibit these animals, does that make it justifiable?
Female ligers (and tigons) are fertile, but male ligers (and tigons) are sterile. Therefore, a liger can not mate with another liger (or tigon). However, a female liger (or tigon) can mate with a male lion or tiger, creating yet another hybrid (li-liger, ti-liger, li-tigon, or ti-tigon) which only increases the genetic problems in the offspring. This should be a pretty good clue that we should keep our meddling hands out of the affairs of nature and stop pretending like we can play God.
Ryan G, I am curious. You believe that ligers can be beneficial in that they help attract young people to zoos, and you believe it will help educate young people on genetics. Sure it will help attract people of all ages to zoos, but educating them on genetics? Honestly now, how many young people do YOU know go to the zoo solely because they want to learn about genetics, and are not there just to see the animals? For the average person, a zoo is a place where they can go to see animals on display that they normally would not be able to see. Besides, zoos are places that are supposed to contribute to animal conservation–the rescuing and preserving of existing animals. As the breeding of two different species in zoos is not generally encouraged, though it may happen accidentally, ligers are not going to be a common attraction at every zoo.
I am all for education and zoos helping to promote an interest or education. Educating people of any age on animals, animal conservation, genetics and hybrids…whatnot. But there is a difference between those hybrids that occur naturally, and those hybrids that occur as a result of the intervention man. Is it also of interest to you on educating a young person on the difference between the two? HOW do you explain it to a young person? “This liger here is a result of a male lion mating with a female tiger. This is not something that occurs in nature, but because we wanted to boost an interest in zoos, we bred two species that otherwise wouldn’t breed to help promote sales.”??? Does that sound absurd? Maybe, but really, how far from the truth is it?
*Update* No, Space Coyote, I don’t believe it is an error. I believe Ryan G deleted his comment. Apparently finding people that had differences in opinion was too much for him.
xx_villa Had this To Say

It is very wrong and makes me sad. I do not have much to say because I do not work with big cats but I did find this on the web from Big Cat Rescue.
“A liger is the result of breeding a male lion to a tigress. A tigon is the result of breeding a male tiger to a lioness. Since lions and tigers do not exist in the same areas, this is not something that happens in the wild. It is done in captivity by disreputable carnies to produce a freak that ignorant people will pay to see. These cats suffer from many birth defects and usually die young. Because ligers are usually larger than either parent, it also puts the tigress at great risk in carrying the young and may require C-section deliveries or kill her in the process. When the public quits paying to see these unfortunate creatures, the evil people responsible for breeding them will stop this inhumane practice.
The ONLY reason anyone breeds ligers is to create a freak that simple minded people will pay to see.”
I believe several people have already said what Big Cat said, but I figured I would throw it in there since they have to deal with the problems first hand.
Lady Red Had this To Say

Absolutely wrong. That cross only occurs when a human forces it to. Then the human uses the animal to make money. That’s exploitation of the animal. Totally wrong.
Jim Had this To Say

To purposely breed Ligers & Tigons is wrong as tigers are solitary animals and lions are pack / pride animals. They have different sound comunications, so would have mental and phisical problems asociated with being near other big cats, even other hybreds.
They Dont hybredize in the wild due to different habitates, sosial behavior and tigers are Asian, European and lions African. Yet because they will / can produce rare hybreds it at least proves that once they shared distant common ansecestors.
Hybredizing of wolves, wid dogs, Australian dingos, jackels have produced the hundreds of modern dog breeds.
Mules — Horse and donkey crosses though infertile are usualy heathier and longer living than their horse and donkey parents.
Phantom Had this To Say

i dont mind mixing fruits, they taste better.

What Are People Beliefs On The Liger Do U Think Its Wrong To Mix Breed?

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