Ligers,tigonsand
whitetigers
Whataretheyandwhataretheissues
aroundbreedingthem?
A ligeristhehybrido springofa male
lionanda femaletiger,whilea tigonis
producedbya maletigeranda female
lion.Thereisnoscientificevidencethat
thesehybridsexistinthewild– even
if thespeciesencounteredeachother,
behaviouraldi erencesbetweenthe
twowoulddeterthemfromreproducing.
Lionsliveinpridesandcoalitions,
whiletigersaresolitaryanimals.
Crossbreedingmakesligersthe
largestbigcatsonEarth,andmany
su erfromgeneticabnormalities.
Simplyput,big-cathybridsarea man-
madespeciesthatexistpurelyfor
entertainment,andtheydonotbenefit
theconservationofwildpopulations.
Whitetigerscanoccurnaturallydueto
a recessivegene,butthisisa rarecolour
mutationamongBengaltigers,rather
thana subspecies.Intentionalbreeding
toincreasethechancesofproducinga
whitetigeroftenleadstogeneticdefects
- in2011,theAZAbannedmemberzoos
fromtakingpartinthepractice.
Clockwise from top left: The Washington Post/Getty; Marc Piscotty/Getty; Barcroft Med
a/Getty;
The
Wash
ngton
Post/Getty;
Dnesen
Venkatache
am/EyeEm/Getty
A WildAnimalSanctuary
employeechecksin
ononeofthetigers
rescuedfromJoe
Exotic’sanimalpark.
Formerly owned by Joe
Exotic, Oklahoma’s
Wynnewood Exotic
Animal Park continues
to draw in the crowds.
July 2020 BBC Wildlife 35
NEWS FEATURE