Ligers are for Real!

“Deb: What are you drawing?
Napoleon: A liger.
Deb: What’s a liger?
Napoleon: It’s pretty much my favorite animal. It’s like a lion and a tiger mixed. Bred for its skills in magic.
Deb: Hmm.”

The headline to this post may come to you as a surprise. Ligers, the cross between a lion and a tiger mentioned in Napoleon Dynamite, are for real. They are no weird fantasy animal but are born when a male lion and a female tiger cross. Ligers exist in India in the Gir forest and rare other place, and are usually only born when tigers and lions are put together into a closed space – tigers and lions are usually not interbreeding in the wild.

What do ligers look like? Well, according to Wikipedia, like the photo to the left; a giant lion with diffused stripes. According to Napoleon, like the drawing to the right – which actually more closely resembles the mythical creature known as manticore (it has the head of a man, the body of a lion, and the tail of a scorpion or dragon).

On the other hand, if a male tiger and a female lion cross, you’ll get a “tigon.” Yes, those are for real too, and the fun doesn’t stop here. While male ligers are sterile, female ligers are often fertile. A female liger that mates with a tiger will breed a ti-liger, and if it mates with a lion, there’ll be li-liger offspring. To complete the confusion, there are also li-tigons and ti-tigons. If you successfully tell all of those apart, people might rightfully call you a “liger expert” – or just “plain crazy.” And don’t get me started on zorses or wolphins...

Sources:
Wikipedia’s entry on ligers.

Philipp Lenssen on Wednesday, Dec 14 2005 reg. Napoleon Dynamite.