The hybrid of a male lion and a female tiger, and the largest living cat. It is tawny like a lion with faint tiger stripes, likes swimming like a tiger and is sociable like a lion. Ligers exist only in captivity; male ligers are sterile, but females can breed.
Quick answers
What is it?Mammal
Carnivore?Yes
Dangerous?Yes
Bigger than either parent, and its parents, lions and tigers, both kill people.
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Day & night
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?No
At a glance
Found inWorldwide
ColoursTan, Brown
SizeHuge
LengthMales 3–3.6 m in total
WeightMales up to about 500 kg; females about 320 kg
Legs4
Covered inFur
Lives ingroups
Lives for13–18 years
Can swim
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Only in captivity. Lion and tiger ranges overlap only in India's Gir National Park, and no ligers have been found there.
Did you know
A lion crossed with a tigress, and it grows larger than either parent.
Hercules, a liger recognised by Guinness as the largest living cat, weighed 418 kg.
Ligers usually live 13–18 years; a ligress named Shasta reached 24.
Often confused with
- Tigon
A liger has a lion father and a tiger mother and grows bigger than both; a tigon has a tiger father and a lion mother and is no bigger than its parents.
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