How's this for
size...
This 10 foot tiger is still growing...
He looks like something from a prehistoric age or a fantastic creation
from Hollywood.. But Hercules is very much living flesh and blood - as he proves
every time he opens his gigantic mouth to roar. Part lion, part tiger,
he is not just a big cat but a huge one, standing 10ft. tall on his
back legs. Called a liger, in reference to his crossbreed parentage,
he is the largest of all the cat species. On a typical day he will devour 200lb of meat, usually beef or
chicken, and is capable of eating 100lb at a single setting. At just
three years old, Hercules already weighs half a ton.
He
is the unintentional result of two enormous big cats living close
together at the Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species, in
Miami, Florida, and already dwarfs both his parents.
"Ligers are not something we planned on having," said
institute owner Dr. Bhagavan Antle. "We have lions and tigers
living together in large enclosures and at first we had no idea how
well one of the lion boys was getting along with a tiger girl, then lo
and behold we had a liger." These two cats don't normally
have the opportunity to breed in the wild, as most lions live in
Africa and most tigers in Asia ..
A
50 mph
runner... Not only that, but he likes to swim, a feat unheard of among
water-fearing lions. In the wild it is virtually impossible for lions
and tigers to mate. They are enemies likely to kill one another. But incredible
as he is, Hercules is not unique. Ligers
have been bred in captivity, deliberately and accidentally, since
shortly before World War II.
Today
there are believed to be a handful of ligers around the world and a
similar number of tigons, the product of a tiger father and lion
mother. Tigons are smaller than ligers and take on more physical
characteristics of the tiger.
Look
at the size of the head on this animal..
Check
out the fangs - like pre-historic days
For you cat lovers.........and even those who aren't
This is pretty cool.