Photo: Aleksey Shilin / Wikimedia Commons Meet the biggest cat in the world: the liger
Although a liger is certainly something to admire, you will never find one outside a zoo—they are a man-made hybrid cross between a male lion and a tiger, something that cannot occur in nature
Ligers look something like a striped lion
They inherit dark brown fur from their lion fathers and black stripes from their lion mothers
As a result of this union between the tiger, the largest and heaviest cat, and the lion, the second largest, ligers become larger and heavier than their parents
In fact, the largest cat in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records is a liger named Hercules, who weighs 922 pounds and is 11 feet tall and 4 feet at the shoulder
At 922 pounds (4182 kg) and 11 feet (333 meters) tall and 4 feet (125 meters) tall at the shoulder, it is considered the largest cat in the world
Photo by Ali West
Like many other unnatural hybrids, ligers often die in the womb or prematurely
They also suffer from various genetic defects and diseases associated with lions and tigers, such as neurological disorders, cancer, arthritis, and organ failure
Photo by Hkandy
For these reasons as well as the lack of conservation value and the threat to wild lions at birth, ligers are banned in many zoos and animal reserves; and those who choose to keep animals are not frowned upon by big cat conservationists around the world
Watch the video below to see the liger in action: The liger is just one of many amazing hybrid species
Click here to learn about the 20 weirdest hybrid animals
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