10. Liger/Tigon
Though they are fascinating animals, they get the last of the list because
they are the most popular known among the hybrids. Ligers are crossbreeds
between a male lion while Tigons are crossbreds between a male tiger and a
female lion. Ligers are the world’s largest cats. Tigons on the other
hand, are prone towards dwarfism and are usually smaller than either of
their parents. Male Ligers/Tigons are sterile while the females are often
fertile. Below shows a liger and its trainer Dr. Bhagavan Antle at a
Renaissance Festival in Massachusetts, USA, October 2005.


Futher Read: Truth
Or Fiction
9. Wolf Dog
Dogs and wolves tend to crossbreed rather freely. The wolf is a shy animal
depending on nuances in body language, facial expression and on hunting
skills to survive. Their jaws are much stronger than those of a dog and are
often used to exert dominance. For a dog wolf hybrid, it is not known when
it will display a wolf behaviour or dog behaviour or something in between.
Obedience training is a must in order to tame the animal.
Further Read: Dog’s
Owner Guide
8. Iron Age Pig
Domestic Tamworth pigs are crossbred with wild boar to create ‘Iron Age
Pigs’. The hybrids are tamer than wild boar but less tractable than
domestic swine and generally become specialist pork sausages. Most of them
are bred for the specialist meat trade.
Further Read: Wikipedia
7. Zebroid
A zorse is the result of crossbreeding a horse and a zebra. A zonkey is the
result of crossbreeding a donkey with a zebra. The Zony is the result of
crossbreeding a pony to a zebra. All these three are called zebroids -
defined as a cross between a zebra and any other equid. Zebroids are
preferred over zebra for practical uses such as riding because of its body
shape. However it is more inclined to be temperamental and can prove to be
difficult to handle.

A Zorse

A Zonkey

A Zony
Further Read: Green
Apple, Wikipedia
6. Cama
A Cama is a hybrid between a camel and a llama. They are born via artificial
insemination due to the huge difference in sizes of the animals which
disallow natural breeding. A Cama usually has the short ears and long tails
of a camel but the cloven hooves of a llama. Also most noticeably is the
absence of the hump.

Rama’s parents shown behind, a camel and llama.

This is Rama the Cama at two days old.

Rama at two years of age as a young adult.
Further Read: Taylor
Llamas, Wikipedia
5. Grolar, Pizzly
A grolar/pizzly hybrid is the product of a grizzly bear and a polar bear.
Although the two bears are genetically similar, they tend to avoid each
other in the wild. During 16 April 2006, a hybrid bear was shot dead by Jim
Martell,a hunter from the United States, in Canada. It was the first time a
hybrid was found in the wild where previous records of grolars or pizzlies
have only been found in zoos.

A grolar, pizzly displayed at the Rothschild Museum, Tring,
Further Read: BBC
News, Wikipedia
4. Leopon
A Leopon is the result of breeding a male leopard and a female lion. The
head of the animal is similar to that of a lion while the rest of the bodies
carries similarities to leopards. The most successful breeding programme was
at the Koshien Hanshin Park in Nishinomiya City, Japan. Leopons are larger
than leopards and likes to climb and enjoy water.

A leopon at a zoo.
Further Read: Wikipedia
3. Hybrid Pheasant
The Golden Phesant has commonly been crossed with the similar Lady
Amherst’s Pheasant. The result is a hybrid with distinguished colors from
its parents.

A Golden Pheasant

A Lady Amherst Pheasant

Hybrid Pheasant displayed at Rothschild Museum Copyright Sarah
Hartwell
Further Read: Messy
Beasts
2. Wolphin
A wolphin is a rare hybrid formed from a cross between a bottlenose dolphin
and a false killer whale. There are currently only two in captivity at the
Sea Life Park in Hawaii. A wolphin’s size, colour and shape are
intermediate between the parent species. The first captive wolphin was
Kekaimalu, which shows mixed heritage even in its teeth: bottlenose dolphins
have 88, false killer whales have 44 and Kekaimalu has 66!

Kekaimalu, The Wolphin
Further Read: Wikipedia
1. Ti-Liger, Ti-Tigon, Li-Tigon, Li-Liger
The top spot goes to ti-ligers/ti-tigon/li-tigons/li-ligers because it is a
hybrid among the hybrids. It is a cross breed between a male tiger and a
female liger/tigon or a male lion with a female tigon/liger. Do note that
female ligers or tigons are fertile. They are extremely rare and are in
mostly private ownership within a behavioural studies programme. In the case
of ti-ligers, they have unusual striping where it breaks up and display a
blotchy appearance. Since they are 3/4 tiger, their characteristics inhibit
more of those of a tiger than a lion.

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