Zoo celebrates birth of hybrid "lion-tiger"

Novosibirsk Zoo in Russia has recently celebrated a very unusual new arrival: Kiara the "liliger".

Kiara's father, Sam, is an African lion and her mother, Zita, is a liger, a cross between a lion and a tiger, making Kiara the world's first known "liliger".

To make matters even more confusing, Kiara is being raised by an ordinary domestic cat because her mother couldn't provide enough milk to feed her hungry cub.

Kiara is fed milk every three hours by her keepers and receives motherly feline attention from the domestic cat.
"It is going to be a strong-willed and robust animal. I think she has more tiger traits than lion traits," says Roza Solovyova, Head of Cats Section at Novosibirsk Zoo.

"It was interesting to know if the liger (Zita) would be able to give birth to a cub or not. Some Japanese scientists said that female hybrids are capable of producing offspring, while males are not, " Zoo director, Rostislav Shilo, said.


REUTERS