(LIGERS) CHINA — Liger cubs, believed to only be born in captivity, have surfaced in a Chinese zoo. Only two of the four liger cubs survived, and now the mother tiger has stopped feeding her liger babies. Fortunately, a motherly dog came to the rescue and is nursing the liger cubs. See the amazing video with this interspecies mom feeding her two adopted liger babies here…— Global Animal
(PHOTOS) Before Hercules became a big brother, the gigantic liger bred by a Myrtle Beach wildlife park for tourists (which they claim was an accident) was a model for a photo shoot recreating 1960s London. At first glance, it seems like a 12-ft long, 900-pound prowling beast is on the loose around the streets of London. Although the colossal liger appears to be strolling across Abbey Road and leaving a London Underground station, Hercules is actually in Freestyle Music Park in South Carolina, and part of a photo shoot orchestrated by the park that bred him. The images are visually arresting, but what do they reveal about the bigger picture? Please weigh in with your thoughts. – Global Animal
(LIGERS) There’s no question that the pictures of the gigantic creature Hercules and adorable liger cub, Aries, is spectacular. But what are we to make of the spectacle? While the world watches tigers rapidly disappear, certain ‘wildlife reserves’ (in this case, we’re insinuating ‘amusement park’) breed ligers, a combination of tiger and lion. Aries is the third litter bred from this park. Liger males, because they are a hybrid offspring, are sterile and usually have shortened life spans in addition to a high rate of birth defects. Due to their size, the tiger mother can only deliver a liger by Ceasarian section. Wouldn’t the resources used to create these sterile hybrid animals with health issues be better spent on programs that promote actual tiger rehabilitation? It may not be lucrative in a pay-per-admission sense, but the cost of losing an entire species is incalculable in every way that matters. What do you think? – Global Animal
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