According to most definitions, for a species to be classified as separate from another, the organisms in one species must not be able to reproduce healthy and fertile young with organisms in another.
But certain scientists and breeders, who question the separation between species, can crossbreed these animals to see just how separate they really are.
A liger, a mix between a male lion and a female tiger, may not be bred for its magic, but it is definitely real. Though rare, according to Lairweb.org, these creatures have existed for about 200 years, but not in the wild. Ligers can only be born in captivity.
For Patrick the liger, this is life.
Patrick, who lives at the Shambala Preserve in Acton has distinct traits of the two animals he was born from: the faint stripes of a tiger and the shaggy mane of a lion.
“Patrick loves to be in the water, which is a tiger trait, and he’s social too, which is a lion trait,” said Christine Link, a member of the advisory board at Shambala Preserve.
Link said that because of Patrick’s mix of traits, he is kept separate from other big cats. Apart from the company of his caretakers, he lives a solitary life.
At one time, the 80-acre preserve also housed a tigon, and her ti-tigon baby. While male and female ligers and tigons are generally sterile, female ligers or tigons can be fertile and give birth. But tigons rarely mate due to their dual traits and considerably smaller size.
“The ligers are prone to gigantism and tigons have dwarfism,” Link said. Hybrids have many health concerns which would stop them from mating even if they weren’t sterile.” Hybrid animals tend to have health problems and therefore have a shorter lifespan.
Though ligers, tigons and other big-cat hybrids bred in the past have lived normal lifespans, other animal hybrid babies die quickly.
The Asian, African elephant hybrid, born at the Chester Zoo in England in the 1970s died after a little more than a week. Rumors circled soon after three of the other elephant hybrids were born deformed and lived shortly also, according to www.nature.com.
“The elephants are the few who are kept together though they are different species at most zoos. But we’ve never had a near-mating experience with them yet,” said Kathy Barns, a San Diego Zoo volunteer.
Jane Ballentine, with the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, told National Geographic that most zoos in the United States try to keep animal species separate – as they would be in the wild – and don’t attempt special breeding. Because the zoos work with the American Zoo Association and are more concerned with the conservation of endangered species, creating new species is not a general concern.
“Special species and breeding is not up to us, it’s up to the AZA and so far it’s been standard to keep species separate according to their natural habitat,” Barns said.
Some wildlife parks don’t believe the same rules apply, like Wild Animal Safari in Georgia, according to National Geographic. Since 1999, the park has bred their male lion and female tiger, producing over 20 liger cubs. But about 13 percent of those cubs had some neurological damage later in life.
Some argue that 13 percent is reason enough to stop creating animals that nature didn’t intend to create.
“In the wild, ligers and other hybrids would weaken the packs and herds, and nature would select for them to die off,” conservationist, Jennifer Caliger said. “Why would we want to spend our time and money on playing God when we could spend it on saving what we already have?”
But some experts believe that mistakes have been made in categorizing animal species and that further tests would prove beneficial to species preservation.
Ballentine told National Geographic that while accredited zoos frown on hybrid breeding, the London Zoological Society highlights their polar bear, brown bear breeding, which creates fertile and healthy young.
Since the two bears, and most other bears besides the panda and speckled bear, are so closely related, the question of species classification has been argued.
Some agree that polar bears and brown bears are examples of different “races” of bears. Still others are doubtful.
“Polar bears and brown bears are the same species in my book, just as lions and tigers are definitely not,” Caliger said. In either case, these animals are endangered. And in the future, I’d rather have polar bears and tigers around than their man-forced ligers and brolar bears or whatever they’re called.”
