China Adds to Problem of Overbreeding Big Cats

SHANDONG, China – Napoleon Dynamite would be proud. An African lion and a Manchurian tiger have given birth to liger cubs at a wildlife reserve in eastern China.

The ligers were born on May 13.

One male and one female survived, while the other two cubs died. Their caretaker said the two who died were not born healthy and died soon after birth.

A liger is a cross between a male lion and a female tiger, so it has parents of the same genus but different species.

According to Chinese state television, there are only about 20 ligers alive today.

Lion-tiger hybrid cubs

6.50AM Sun May 22 2011A manchurian tiger and an African lion gave birth to four lion-tiger hybrid cubs in Xixiakou Wildlife and Natural Reserve in Rongcheng, east China’s Shangdong Province on May 13th.

Two ligers, one male and the other female, have survived while another two have died.

Zhou Xiaoguang, feeder for ligers cubs said,”I can feel that they are struggling to survive. Their behavior and mental status are back to normal now.”

A 8 years old Manchurian Tiger named ‘Hua Hua’ had given birth to four lion-tiger hybrid cubs on 13th of May.

But Zhou said, “They were in a poor condition when they got here. Their bodies were cold and rigid. I think they would possibly die soon. They had convulsion. Then two of them died on about 02:00 the next day.”

An African lion and Hua Hua, who gave birth to the four hybrid cubs, grew up in the natural reserve.

The liger is a hybrid cross between a male lion and a tigress. Thus, it has parents with the same genus but of different species.

It is distinct from the similar hybrid tiglon.

There are only about 20 ligers in the world today.

See why breeding ligers is such an evil thing to to: https://bigcatrescue.org/photos/liger/liger-facts/