A Liger's Tale
What do you get when you cross a lion with a tiger? A liger, of course!
There are not a lot of ligers in the world, but one, named Hercules, made a big splash recently at Miami's Parrot Jungle Island.
"It's not something you see every day," the animal's owner, Bhagavan Antle, told New York's Daily News.
How did Hercules, who weighs 900 pounds, come to be? Back in 2002, his father, a lion, and his mother, a tiger, spotted each other at Antle's South Carolina animal preserve. It was love at first roar.
"We have a big free-roaming area at the preserve," Antle told the New York Post. "Sometimes lions and tigers are allowed to go out there and, lo and behold, one particular lion fell in love with one particular tiger and we had babies."
Four, to be exact: Hercules has three brothers—Vulcan, Zeus, and Sinbad.
What do ligers look like? A liger has a thick mane like that of a lion and stripes like those of a tiger. Hercules can consume 100 pounds of raw meat a day. He is able to run as fast as 50 miles per hour. At 3 years old, he's only a baby.
Does Hercules roar like a tiger or a lion? He has his dad's voice, although he swims like his mom. Like most lions, his dad doesn't enjoy the water.
Hercules is special because there are no ligers in the wild. Several have been born in captivity, including in a zoo in Russia. That liger's name is Zita.
Ligers are rare1 because tigers and lions don't usually get along. "Normally the lion will kill the tiger," Antle said.
What do you get when you cross a lion with a tiger? A liger, of course!
There are not a lot of ligers in the world, but one, named Hercules, made a big splash recently at Miami's Parrot Jungle Island.
"It's not something you see every day," the animal's owner, Bhagavan Antle, told New York's Daily News.
How did Hercules, who weighs 900 pounds, come to be? Back in 2002, his father, a lion, and his mother, a tiger, spotted each other at Antle's South Carolina animal preserve. It was love at first roar.
"We have a big free-roaming area at the preserve," Antle told the New York Post. "Sometimes lions and tigers are allowed to go out there and, lo and behold, one particular lion fell in love with one particular tiger and we had babies."
Four, to be exact: Hercules has three brothers—Vulcan, Zeus, and Sinbad.
What do ligers look like? A liger has a thick mane like that of a lion and stripes like those of a tiger. Hercules can consume 100 pounds of raw meat a day. He is able to run as fast as 50 miles per hour. At 3 years old, he's only a baby.
Does Hercules roar like a tiger or a lion? He has his dad's voice, although he swims like his mom. Like most lions, his dad doesn't enjoy the water.
Hercules is special because there are no ligers in the wild. Several have been born in captivity, including in a zoo in Russia. That liger's name is Zita.
Ligers are rare1 because tigers and lions don't usually get along. "Normally the lion will kill the tiger," Antle said.