Lion-Tiger 'Liger' Hybrid Names Hercules Weighs 922lbs And Is "World's Largest Living Cat," Says Guinness

Jan 16, 2020 by apost team

Throughout history, new species have come and gone, and others sometimes crossbreed, but the latter happens more frequently on account of human interaction.

A wildlife facility in South Carolina introduced the world to the largest cat, called a Liger because it is a cross between a lion and a tiger. The new species resembles the now extinct saber-toothed tiger in size and agility, though it is unlikely this breed will ever exist outside the zoo.

The Myrtle Beach Safari is a small zoo operated by a father and son team that offers guests up-close encounters with wildlife. The Liger, Hercules, was named the largest living cat in the world by the Guiness Book of World Records.

Hercules weighs 922 pounds and has a nephew, Apollo, that already weighs over seven hundred pounds. Both Hercules and Apollo are white ligers and were both bred and raised at the zoo.

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The only way to create a white liger is by breeding a white male lion with a white female tiger. Both of these are rare on their own, rare because it takes both inbreeding and because most of the resulting offspring produced has genetic flaws that don't lead to survival.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums has established commonly accepted breeding practices and advises against breeding practices that lead to ligers and both white lions and white tigers.

Still, the Myrtle Beach Safari says that it practices a safe breeding program and preserves a species that was first found in nature. In addition, it claims that the care it gives the ligers and other big cats that call the zoo home the best of care.

Details about the upkeep required for Hercules include the fact that the cat eats over twenty pounds of beef or chicken every day, an amount required to sate and keep the cat in prime condition as he prowls his territory in the zoo.

While the zoo has not indicated if they will continue their breeding program or not, they do currently have the lions and tigers necessary to breed ligers in the future. The implications of health and genetic complications that might be faced by offspring is unknown at the time because there are not enough examples in nature to study.

Myrtle Beach Safari vows to continue its efforts to preserve large cat species, and to advocate for the species through its center. Do you think creating a new species is needed to aid in the conservation of lion and tiger species?