Another animal conterversy question, about big cats this time...?

Question

This question is about Ligers (a male lion, female tiger cross) and Tigons (a male tiger, female lion cross). First, information about them, for those who do not know.

Ligers, the males are sterile, the females can breed. Ligers reach completely un-natural size, because of the way lion & tiger genes combind, they do not stop growing throughout their lives. Of course this causes shorter lives, and arthritis problems.

Tigons, the males are sterile, and the females can breed. They do stop growing (fortunate for them).

There are other big cat hybrid crosses, involving leopards and jaguars.

Here in the U.S.A. none of these big cat hybrid crosses have anything beyond basic animal protection rights. You must give them food, water, shelter, and basic vet care. They do not have SPECIES protection rights, since they are not something that would occur in nature.

These hybrids are often bred by game farms, to provide "sport" for their customers.

Answer 1

Do these animals physically mate with each other or is this done in a lab? I have never heard of this stuff. I want to know.

Answer 2

hybrids in reality is speeded up evolution

in Nature when species die out ,and land masses have changed or they have left their usual habitats ,cross breeding occurs and the surviving combination is the one that inherits .

so as far as that is concerned ,not much objection

I have always wanted to cross breed a human with a gorilla ,as construction workers

Animal shows i hate and is no less that slavery ,with a performance based on punishment and reward

i hate a circus and wont even go to one ,

we have a circus that comes to this town ,I live by the river ,and the circus people take the elephant out to the river to eat the water hyacinth and wash it ,

This is the saddest looking Elephant i have ever seen in my life ,in terrible condition ,thin .bad skin and limping with scars on its leg from the chains

it made me ashamed too look it in the sensitive eyes they got ,and they are very smart ,a disillusioned beaten spirit .

I have seen Elephants in the wild ,and this is a majestic proud healthy animal and  beautiful to watch ,

the same applies to all circus animals .they all look sad and beaten ,and i bad condition.

I once worked with Lions in a Safari Park owned by the Smart brothers (a famous circus ) I soon fell out with the people ,when they caught me taking a nap next to a friendly big male .

Lions all differ in Character just like humans ,and all characters can be found also friendly ones.

others would have ripped me to pieces and almost did one time ,but i got away in a car that raced up and rescued me

these peoples method of controlling the lions was by force and intimidation (the circus method )like cowboys break in a horse ,

i prefer the Indian way with gentleness and making friends with the animal ,and this also worked with the lion.

when i saw the circus people beating a lion which had killed a guy ,with metal poles in a corner i had enough and left

lions are not that stupid they will remember hate and this will one day emerge again .

So forget about caged animals ,this can never be like their own Environment

Although it serves the purpose of showing the kids the animals ,if there are not any more left ,like a living library ,used for education and creating sympathy for Nature

Sad but a reality

I have visited many big safari Parks in Africa .

My brother owns 4 of these ,

The lodge and the routes the people use are insignificant too the wild great expanse that belongs to the animals ,and they live in a normal way .

The visitors pay for the maintenance and security of the park, as well as medicinal help if needed ,so in fact the animals are better off than before and protected from human hunters

Normal people except the extremely rich in our civilized societies are not equipped ,educated or capable of looking after these big animals such as the big cats, unless they own a valley with a mountain and the animal walks around free .

And if you are a queen to have two tame cheetahs lying by your side is very cool ,

but loose ,not in a cadge ,just made friendly by treating it like a friend

I knew one guy that had a tame Baboon ,which could rip your head of the body if it got angry with you,.



this is very risky as people have found out with chimpanzees

cute when young and curious ,but very dangerous when old and bad tempered short of patience easily annoyed .like any old man

A chimp can rip an arm off ,should they want to ,the movie about the chimp in england, LINK,that killed all these people is very close to the truth.And they are very intelligent and scheming.

To breed animals for sport is the same as hunting people for sport ,both still happen .

Not very acceptable in many places

Although there are degrees

i hate the fox hunts ,the sport of the arrogant rich

but breeding ducks or pheasant and one time a year have a shoot out ,is also not nice but somehow sounds less bad

as a kid i went on one of those and thoroughly enjoyed it ,but i don`t think i would any more .

Many people love killing it is the unfortunate fact about humans ,teach a lion to like potatoes forget it ,this is almost the same thing .

And how many Americans condone or allow  thousands of women and children to be bombed in the name of religion or revenge .

How many know about the small nuclear bomb dropped on Syria on the 6th of September ,to create a reaction ,that could kill thousands ,just to have an excuse to initiate a full scale global nuclear conflict .

we got much bigger worries ahead of us

the basic animal rights you mention may be legal ,but they are not moral ,from an animals point of view.

And people who love animals will not be impressed ,but there are plenty who do or are curious to see these animals .

In Africa exists  a trade which is for Lion ^hunters^where an ,normally American ^hunter^can shoot a previously darted and drugged Lion for an incredible price ,just to have the photo ,But the unscrupulous farmers who do this are hated by most people who run regular safari  or game parks.

hope this answers some of your question.

Answer 3

I knew of the Ligers, but I didn't know about the "law skirting" thing. That figures because there a lot of Ligers in Texas where caged hunting and d**k Cheney shooting people in the face go hand in hand.

Answer 4

I haven't heard that one yet, must be I'm too busy with horses, but this sounds just weird, first i didn't wonna believe it and looked it up on the web...

Some people always find another way to make money, or show off with, their sense for morals and ethics got lost during the hunt for that.

I just hope that lawmakers wake up and do something and close that gap.

That's all I can say to that.

Answer 5

Ok...so I know that if nobody centuries ago had domesticated dogs and cats, I wouldn't have these beloved furballs sharing my life today.

Still, I doubt that Dammit the polydactyl Kitty, Peggy the 3 legged dog, or Sadie the Beagle dog are going to devour my neighbors' young children any time soon...

Some animals make great companions.  Others might eat you.  Look at the personality difference between the mule, a hybrid, and the donkey and horse that create it.  You really have no predictability or anticipation of how these "new" hybrids are going to behave.  (Am I then opposed to mules?  NO.  See above.  My friends' mules are not likely to eat anybody any time soon, they are bred for a logical purpose, not just to be "exotic.")

REAL hunters are naturalists who share a bond with the prey and the land.  All of this canned hunt c**p is for armchair sportsmen who couldn't track their way back through the bathroom door if not for the toilet paper stuck to the soles of their shoes.

I am for the most part opposed to this type of hybrid.  I hope those who breed these for sport or novelty are promptly devoured like a tidy little snack by a liger who has grown to monumentous size.

Answer 6

I recently saw something about this on PBS.  It was nothing short of horrifying to see what people were doing for purely profit; with little or no concern for the well being of the ligers and tigons.

It's long overdue that people operating, supporting or participating in "canned" hunting or "sport" hunting need to have their own d**n numbers thinned out extensively.

Something along a "Bill of Rights" for animals in this country is desperately need.  Not only for domestic pets.  I think this could be structured to more humanely see to better treatment of herd / stock animals, those in the "entertainment" field, and even animlas involed in reintroduction programs.

Answer 7

I have never heard of ligers or tigons before and i cant believe people still hunt tigers and lions?I can understand your dislike of circuses as your not the only one.Zoos are a different story, in recent times there has been a transformation in how animals are being cared for and many zoos have valuable breeding programs for endangered species,a great example is the Taronga Park Zoo who have great success in breeding Pandas and other animals on the endangered list,they have built some very fine natural habitats and it is always a nice place to see animals who are being humanely looked after,no big game hunters there and that's for sure.