LIGER

offspring of a lion and a tigress. The liger is a zoo-bred hybrid, as is the tigon, the result of mating a tiger with a lioness. It is probable that neither the liger nor the tigon occurs in the wild, as differences in the behaviour and habitat of the lion and tiger make interbreeding unlikely. The liger and the tigon possess features of both parents, in variable proportions, but are generally larger and darker than either. It is thought that most, if not all, male ligers and tigons are sterile; the females, however, on occasion, may be able to produce young.