Image: Alexey Shilin / Wikimedia Commons Meet the world’s biggest cat: the lion
While tigers are certainly something to marvel at, you’ll never find one outside a zoo—they’re a man-made hybrid cross between a male lion and a tigress, something that would never happen in nature
Ligers look somewhat like striped lions
They inherit the grayish brown fur from their lion fathers and the black stripes from their tigress mothers
This mating between the tiger, the largest and heaviest feline, and the lion, the second largest, resulted in tigers being much larger and heavier than either of their parents
In fact, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest cat in the world is a lion named Hercules, who weighs 922 pounds and stands 11 feet tall and 4 feet at the shoulder
At 922 pounds (4182 kg) and 11 feet (333 m) in length and 4 feet (125 m) tall at the shoulder, he is considered the world’s largest living cat
Photo by Ali West
Like many other unnatural hybrids, ligers often die in utero or prematurely
They also suffer from a variety of deleterious genetic defects and diseases associated with both lions and tigers, such as neurological problems, cancer, arthritis and organ failure
Photo by hakandi
For these reasons, as well as the lack of conservation value and the danger to the female tigress during birth, tigresses are banned in most zoos and animal sanctuaries; And those who choose to breed the animals are detested by big cat conservationists around the world ,
Watch the video below to see a lion in motion: The tiger is one of many surprising hybrid species
Click here to learn about 20 more amazing hybrid animals
Next up: Lions Vs