Panto Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/-/world/9512450/dog-nurses-two-rare-liger-cubs/ Dog nurses two rare liger cubs AAP May 25, 2011, 11:19 am EPA © Enlarge photo A Chinese zoo official says two rare cubs born to a male lion and a female tiger are being nursed by a dog after they were abandoned by their mother. Cong Wen of Xixiakou Wildlife Zoo in eastern China says four cubs called ligers were born to the lion and tiger earlier this month. She said on Tuesday the tiger mother fed the ligers for four days but then abandoned them for unknown reasons. Two died of weakness. Cong said staff at the zoo in Shandong province found a dog who had just given birth to feed the surviving cubs. She said the two cubs had trouble at first drinking milk from the dog but are now used to it. Ligers are rare and are sometimes bred in zoos by mistake. Ligers are the product of a male lion and a female tiger, while if the reverse were to occur it would be a tiglon. Ligers generally have more features of a lion but share a tiger's love for water. I hope the puppies that the nursing dog had given birth to are ok too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 as soon as I saw the heading rare Liger cubs I thought let me guess China The only reason they are "rare" is because it's a forced mating. Lions and tigers dont mate. It's worse than designer dogs. Why dont they spend their time and effort in ensuring the continuation of tigers and lions in the wild instead of creating these gimmicks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deerhound owner Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/-/world/9512450/dog-nurses-two-rare-liger-cubs/ Dog nurses two rare liger cubs AAP May 25, 2011, 11:19 am EPA © Enlarge photo Ligers are rare and are sometimes bred in zoos by mistake. I hope the puppies that the nursing dog had given birth to are ok too... Cute photo but I'm just wondering about the bolded bit. How does this happen by mistake? "opps I accidentally left the door between the lion and tiger pens open last night" or maybe "opps I grabed the wrong straw of semen for AI"?? Sounds more like they do it for the publicity! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panto Posted May 25, 2011 Author Share Posted May 25, 2011 Yes.. got me wondering too... Although I thought both the US and Asia initially. But upon further googling it appears the Germans and the South Africans got up to it first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidan3 Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 Ligers are pretty much my favourite animal. They are bred for their skills in magic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogfan Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 What's a Liger?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Age Outlaw Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 (edited) Actually, I believe in certain circumstances the two species will mate naturally. I went to a zoo many years ago (in Australia) and they had two Tigons that were the result of an "oops" mating in a circus (through the bars of their cages). Because it was an accidental mating, and they didn't want anyone to think they had done it deliberately, they refused to use them in their circus and donated them to this zoo instead to live out their days. I must say they were very lovely animals...one of them even let me touch him through the fence. :p Edited May 25, 2011 by New Age Outlaw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KKDD Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 China is almost always the place where these 'accidental' matings happen, and where a dog is subsequently used as a surrogate mum. If you look closely at the video footage of this one, you will see that the dog is chained closely to the ground by her collar. This is the norm and suggests the dog is not a willing participant. Chinese zoos are not generally known for holding animal welfare in the highest regard, and there have been plenty of instances of very dodgy practices. eg providing the big cats with live goats, donkeys etc so that feeding time is more fun for visitors to watch. I have seen footage of zoo visitors hurling live goats off a cliff into a 'pit' where big cats were housed. The breeding of hybrids like ligers, is consistent with the 'cruel freak show' approach some chinese zoos take. I would also not be the least bit suprised if cubs are deliberately removed from their feline mothers and put onto the unfortunate dogs, since this is always more newsworthy and will get more paying visitors into the zoo. Mind you, zoo practices in plenty of other countries would make your toes curl too.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marion 01 Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 Nice cubs, but when you look at it in that light ( maybe a publicity stunt) and also seeing as it was in China, what happened to the pups the dog gave birth to ?????? Hmmm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panto Posted May 25, 2011 Author Share Posted May 25, 2011 Ligers are pretty much my favourite animal. They are bred for their skills in magic. LOL! You found urban dictionary too! Liger - male lion, female tiger Tigron - other way around Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzy82 Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 Liger, rare?? Pffft. If they're gonna breed tigers, why not breed them to their own kind and try to save the species?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ams Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 I'm probably going to sound stupid but what the heck. If that bitch just had puppies then I'd expect it to have massive boobies full of milk. I also think I've seen this photo before so maybe it's a rerun? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabbath Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 Ligers are pretty much my favourite animal. They are bred for their skills in magic. I love that movie! On a serious note, poor form beeding them in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyesblue Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 I wonder what happened to mums babies if she had just given birth??!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staranais Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 I wonder what happened to mums babies if she had just given birth??!! Yes, I wonder about that too. It might be a far sadder story than it first appears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 It looks like a set up to me. No bedding or nesting area, just plonked on wooden floor boards. It doesn't look right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjelkier Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 The line about the breedings sometimes being an accident seems a bit fishy to me.... There's a Tigon at the Canberra Zoo. Apparently it came to them from a Circus but I dont know how true that is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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