Tigons+and+Ligers

November 26, 2007**
 * Tigons and Ligers

Tigons and ligers are no myth, they are real but don’t occur in the wild, only in captivity. A tigon is the offspring of a male tiger and a female lion, but reverse for the liger. There are is one major difference between the two, the size of the ligers. These massive cats weigh around 800-1200 pounds; rather the tigons are only 350-400. A liger’s stripes are usually fainter than that of the tigons. Manes of the male tigon is shorter and shaggier than the usual lion mane, and it’s “speech” is like both its parents, roaring and a chuffing noise. Most people think that they’re temperament is playful and gentle like their parents, but trainers say they show confusion issues. These large cats have been around as early as 1837; a tigon was a gift from an Indian princess to Queen Victoria. Unfortunately these felines have many health problems and don’t usually live to adulthood. Weaknesses to certain cancers, muscular and nervous disorders are caused by weakened genes through breeding incompatible genes. Scientists want to use tigons and ligers as experiments to try and better understand how genes are inherited and traits passed down from one generation to the next. **
 * Lisa Erdmann**
 * March 19, 2010