Russian Ligers - The First ever Liger in Russia
In 2004, Russia welcomed its first ever liger cub in its history. But it wasn't a single cub; there were twin adorable cubs. These cubs were born to an African male lion and female Siberian tiger in Russian Novosibirsk Zoo. One of the twins was male while the second was the female liger cub. This was the first incident of the ligers to be produced in the Russian soil. There was no previous cross breeding of the lion and tiger in Russia.
According to the officials at the park, they had no intention of mating a lion and tiger together. The parents of the twin liger cubs lived next to one another, unless they became good buddies and started mating. Therefore, this was a rare incident that was not planned, according to the authorities. Even the tigers and lions are not believed to be nice with one another; therefore, it is acceptable that the incident is highly rare (Prvda, 2004).
One of the liger cubs was named as Zita. Zita by the time of this report was 5 months old and was very healthy and doing greatly (Prvda, 2004). Both the twins by the 2010 would be more than 6 years old. There have been no reports of their casualty; therefore, they will be still standing great in the zoos with a huge massive size. Both the ligers were very healthy indeed, as both of them were enjoying a perfect life like all the big cats at the zoo. Moreover; both the ligers were also free form disabilities as well.
At one instant, Zita's diet includes 7 kilograms of meat, one rabbit and one egg. Zita still lives in a very healthy way in the Novosibirsk zoo in Russia. She is currently about 6 years old. Her sister named as Gita is also 6 years old. But it lives at the Moscow zoo. There are several studies that are specifically conducted and are in progress about Gita the liger (Reproduced from a Russian website). Ligers are known to have consume more than 100 pounds in a single sitting. However; the zookeepers usually give them a balanced diet to keep them safe from any sort of obesity. Obesity in ligers is very common; as stated by a liger expert Mr. Bhagavan Antle.
Russia is the biggest country in the world. It has a huge land to support a lot of species. Even most importantly, it is the home to the largest feline cat species on earth. Yes the Siberian tiger. Siberian tiger is weighs even heavier than the male African lion. Liger Zita has already inherited its mother genes from a Siberian Tiger. Siberian Tigers have also been known to gain a weight of around 900 pounds as well. This weight is almost equivalent to the Ligers.