Liger

Panthera leo x Panthera tigris

A liger is a captive big-cat hybrid produced by breeding a male lion, Panthera leo, with a female tiger, Panthera tigris. It is not a species, subspecies, or conservation unit. Ligers usually show a lion-like sandy coat overlaid with faint tiger striping, and males may develop a partial mane. Because lion and tiger growth signals do not match neatly, some ligers grow larger than either parent species, although size varies and very large individuals often face mobility and metabolic strain. The reverse cross, a male tiger with a female lion, is called a tigon.

Ligers occur almost entirely in private menageries, roadside zoos, or non-accredited breeding collections; accredited conservation programs generally avoid producing them because they do not support wild lion or tiger recovery. Their care requires the same level of security as other big cats, with added attention to body weight, joint health, diet, cooling, and transport logistics for an unusually large animal. Breeding raises welfare concerns, including difficult births for tiger mothers, lifelong housing commitments, and misleading public messaging. Facilities that inherit or rescue ligers usually manage them as individual captive animals rather than as part of a breeding plan.