Growth of the Ligers
Ligers experience a faster growth as compared to other big cats as lions and tigers. Ligers grow at such a fast rate that their fellow big cats such as lions and tigers of the same age almost look dwarf in front of the ligers. So what allows ligers to grow faster than other big cats like lions and tigers? The only answer which we have concluded right now is that ligers lack growth inhibiting gene and as a result of that their growth rate is much faster as compared to other big cats. This claim is posited by Dr. Bhagavan Antle and it is agreed by many liger experts around the world as well.
So at what pace a liger grows, if it has the fastest growth rate of all the big cats? It is estimated that a liger gains a weight of around 1 pound per day. This is an average growth rate for a liger throughout its growth lifespan which is of 4 years at maximum. On the other the average growth rate for a lion or a tiger is around 0.5 pounds per day even though they also have a same growth lifespan of around 4 years as well. So ligers have a 100% fastest growth on average as compared to lions and tigers.
Ligers only experience this fastest growth rate during the first 4 years of their life. During this period their whole body and bone structure is developed and after 4 years they reach the stage of maturity. After 4 years, the growth of the liger may stop but their weight may still increase dependent upon their food consumption. The most interesting thing here to understand is that during the first 2 years, a growth rate of a liger is usually fastest. During 2nd to 3rd year it is very common for a liger to even gain more than 2 pounds of weight per day. In the 4th year the growth rate of a liger is rather slow and it can be less than 0.5 pounds per day as well.
Hercules the liger is a best example and sample to study if you are investigating growth of the ligers. When Hercules the liger was 3 years old he was almost 900 pounds which strong indicates that the growth rate for a liger in between 2nd and 3rd year of their life. Onwards in the 4th year Hercules the liger still gained couple of pounds but that growth rate will be very minute. Hercules the liger was 11 feet long when he was 3 years old which means that a liger almost gains a length of 3 to 4 feet of length per year which is a bit faster than tigers and lions.
There are some strange myths that ligers grow all their life. This is absolutely wrong. Currently the growth inhibiting gene of a liger is only contributing for a faster growth for 4 years and not forever. Even is if this has been true that ligers grow all their life then Hercules the liger right now after 12 years would have gained more than 1000 pounds. So it is completely wrong to associate that ligers grow all their life because of growth inhibiting gene. The truth is ligers only grow during the first 4 years of their life but they do grow at a very fast pace.
One thing we have easily established here is that ligers not only have a growth inhibiting gene but also a growth stimulant gene as well. This growth stimulant gene is a new area to be studied within ligers as there hasn't been much research in this regard. We may also conclude that perhaps the growth stimulant gene is same as growth inhibiting gene.
