tigon

Ligers and tigons were long thought to be sterile; in 1943, however, a 15-year-old hybrid between a lion and a tiger was successfully mated at the Munich Hellabrunn Zoo. The female cub was then raised to adulthood.{{Cite book |last=Guggisberg |first=Charles Albert Walter |title=Wild Cats of the World |url=https://archive.org/details/wildcatsofworld00gugg |url-access=registration |year=1975 |publisher=Taplinger Publishing |location=New York |isbn=0795001282}} Like the liger, male tigons are sterile while the females are fertile.

At the Alipore Zoo in India, a tigoness named Rudhrani, born in 1971, was successfully mated to a male Asiatic lion named Debabrata. The rare, second-generation hybrid was called a litigon. Rudhrani produced seven litigons in her lifetime. Some of these reached impressive sizes - a litigon named Cubanacan weighed at least {{cvt|363|kg}}, stood {{cvt|1.32|m}} at the shoulder, and was {{cvt|3.5|m}} in total length.[http://www.natureasia.com/en/nindia/article/10.1038/nindia.2017.46 The litigon rediscovered]. www.natureasia.com. Retrieved on 22 July 2017.

File:Maude the Tigon at Manchester Museum (01).jpg, England.]]

As with the liger, the tigon is found only in captivity, because the habitats of the tiger and lion do not overlap. In the past, however, the Asiatic lion did coexist with the Bengal tiger in the wilderness of India, besides occurring in countries where the Caspian tiger had been, such as Iran and Turkey.Pocock, R. I. (1939). [https://archive.org/stream/PocockMammalia1/pocock1#page/n261/mode/2up The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Mammalia. – Volume 1]. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London. Pp. 199–222.{{cite book |author1=Heptner, V. G. |author2=Sludskij, A. A. |orig-year=1972 |year=1992 |title=Mlekopitajuščie Sovetskogo Soiuza. Moskva: Vysšaia Škola |trans-title=Mammals of the Soviet Union. Volume II, Part 2. Carnivora (Hyaenas and Cats) |publisher=Smithsonian Institution and the National Science Foundation |location=Washington DC |url=https://archive.org/stream/mammalsofsov221992gept#page/83/mode/2up |pages=1–732}} In India, there is a plan to shift some lions from their current home of the Gir Forest to Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary, which has some tigers,{{cite book |last=Johnsingh |first=A.J.T. |year=2006 |title= Field Days: A Naturalist's Journey Through South and Southeast Asia |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EU3inCiGFYYC&pg=PA126 |chapter=Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary ready to play second home to Asiatic lions? |publisher=Universities Press |location=Hyderabad |isbn=8173715521 |pages= 126–138}} but it has not been implemented as of December 2017, perhaps due to political reasons, as the Gujarat state government does not want any other state to have lions in the forests.{{cite news |work=Times of India |title=Tired of Gujarat reluctance on Gir lions, MP to release tigers in Kuno |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/tired-of-gujarat-reluctance-on-gir-lions-mp-to-release-tigers-in-kuno/articleshow/61937836.cms |date=5 December 2017 |access-date=27 January 2018}}{{cite news |work=Hindustan Times |title=Stalemate on translocation of Gir lions Kuno Palpur in Madhya Pradesh to be used as tiger habitat now |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/bhopal/stalemate-on-translocation-of-gir-lionskuno-palpur-in-madhya-pradesh-to-be-used-as-tiger-habitat-now/story-hX8ELtxSSL4I8GeLTh6xYI.html |date=7 December 2017 |access-date=27 January 2018}}{{needs update|date=October 2022}}

• Liliger
• Panthera hybrid

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.lairweb.org.nz/tiger/tigons.html Detailed Information of hybrid big cats.]
• [http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/liger.asp Liger]. snopes.com.
• [http://www.gk12.iastate.edu/ask_a_scientist/questions_animals.asp Questions about Animals]. Gk12.iastate.edu.

{{Mammal hybrids}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1383362}}

Category:Panthera hybrids