White Ligers
White ligers are new addition to a big cat family and particularly among hybrid big cat family. A white liger is a an offspring that results from a male white lion as its father and a female white tigress as its mother. Genetically; a white liger is no different than a regular tawny colored liger because both of these ligers will have same attributes.
White Ligers results from the crossbreeding of male white lion and a female white tiger. White Ligers are also Hybrids.
However; the only difference in between the white liger and the regular liger will be the difference in terms of their fur color. Ligers are believed to be rarest among all the big cats but white ligers are even further rarest and as per reports there are only four white ligers in the world right now.
The world’s first white liger cubs were born in December 2013, when a male white lion successfully mated with a female white tigress to produce the white ligers as offsprings. United States became the first country while Myrtle Beach Safari at the state of South Carolina became the first ever animal safari park to successfully breed the white lion and white tigress together.
The world's fist white liger cubs were born in 2013, when a litter of 4 liger cubs were given birth by a white tigress at Myrtle Beach Safari in South Carolina, USA.
World’s famous liger Hercules the liger also lives at Myrtle Beach Safari as well. This safari park has always introduced the perfect spectrum of big cats as a safari experience and ligers have always been the part of it.
Myrtle Beach Safari publically displayed these white liger cubs in January 2014 and the news became viral throughout the world. There was a litter of four white liger cubs when the news was disclosed online. All of these white liger cubs within the litter were male liger cubs and their names included Yeti, Odlin, Apolo and Samson.
The names of the world's first white liger cubs was Yeti, Odlin, Apolo and Samson. They were all a litter of male liger cubs.
Their father’s name is Ivory the lion and Saraswati the tigress. Both of these big cats are part of the Myrtle Beach Safari for almost 4 years now. In the pictures all of these white liger cubs looked almost white with some facial markings and visible stripes. Yet still they were not as white as compared to the white tiger and white lion cubs.
Before that there were also rumors about the birth of the white ligers during 1990s in South Korea’s Everland Zoo as well. Messybeast has previously supported this claim and it still does. However; in our research no such evidence in the form of picture or video has been found at the Everland Zoo. Currently; the Everland Zoo has one liger but that is by no means a white liger. Moreover; the Everland Zoos have never resisted the claims and statements of the world’s first ever white ligers cubs at Myrtle Beach Safari in South Carolina, USA. Therefore; the white liger cubs at Myrtle Beach Safari in South Carolina, USA should be considered as the first ever white liger cubs in the world.
Interestingly; the white ligers are not as much white as one might imagine them and compares them with the white lions and white tigers. Unlike white lions and white tigers which are vividly white in color, the white ligers are not white at all. Usually a white liger has a creamish color of its fur which is a bit lighter than the fur of a normal liger.
White ligers are not as much white as their parents but rather they have an off-white creamish color. Their fur color is slightly paler than the normal ligers.
Therefore; the name white liger for a liger is derived on the basis of color of its parents which are both white in terms of their skin and fur coloring. On the other hand; a white lion or a white tiger may necessarily not have white parents. White tigers and white lions have usually white eyes, whereas; white eyes characteristic is absent within the white ligers and ligers in generals.
White liger cubs gained a huge popularity at the time of their birth. They were introduced to the general public on two key occasions so far since their birth. First at the time of their birth at Myrtle Beach Safari in South Carolina and secondly a few weeks later at Jungle Island in Miami.
White liger cubs made a huge news buzz globally. People were really excited to see this new breed within the big cat family.
At Jungle Island a team of animal trainers led by China York from Myrtle Beach Safari represented these white liger cubs to school kids and even allowed them to touch and hold these white liger cubs. A santa claus was also present at the occasion to accompany school children. Apart from that these white ligers have been the part of Myrtle Beach Safari and the safari has regularly updated about their life and growth etc. on regular basis.
Moksha Bybee; an animal trainer at Myrtle Beach Safari is mostly responsible for caring and grooming of these white ligers. She has been taking care of these white liger cubs since the day one and has made them grow as the huge big ligers as of 2017. She has also been making and updating their videos since they were the small cubs. She can be seen having a walk with them, having a swim and even cuddling with them.
Moksha Bybee is one of the few animal trainers that have been working with these rarest white ligers. She has raised these white ligers since they were small cubs and now they are adult ligers.
China York another animal trainer at Myrtle Beach Safari is also at regular interaction with these white ligers as well. She also updates her pictures with these white liger cubs. All the pictures show that these white ligers are doing perfectly fine at Myrtle Beach Safari.
Dr. Bhagavan Antle who has more than 40 years of experience with the big cats including the ligers, predicted that among all the white liger brothers Yeti will become the biggest liger and will weigh more than 900 pounds. Dr. Bhagavan Antle already have raised Hercules the liger which also weighed more than 900 pounds and became part of Guinness Book of World Records on two occasions.
Dr. Bhagavan Antle believes that among the white ligers Yeti is expected to grow as huge as 900 pounds, when it will reach its growth maturity.
He has also raised Zeus, Samson, Vulcan, and Sinbad the ligers all weighing more than 900 pounds. As of 2017; these white liger will almost be a fully grown liger and we are waiting for an update about the final ultimate size of these rarest white ligers.
Key Questions
If a white liger has almost same fur color as that of a regular liger then what’s the difference in between a white liger and the normal liger? Is it just a difference based upon the fur color of their parents only? Apparently it looks as if though! Will having white furred parents of white ligers impact on their growth as well? This assumption is based upon the observations proving that a white lion or a white tiger is usually bigger than a regular lion or a tiger. So; will this case be true as well for the white ligers? Will they grow more bigger than the normal ligers? These are the key questions that needs to be addressed regarding white ligers and only the actual mature growth of the white ligers hold the key in this regard.
Author: Usman Masood
Published Date: November 18, 2017
Last Modified: November 18, 2017
Publisher: LIGERWORLD
Genre: White Liger, Hybrids, Ligers, Tigers, Lions and Crossbreeding!
Copyright Holder: © Ligerworld - All Rights Reserved
Copyright Year: 2017
Liger Sources & References
- Daily Mail A roaring success, the world's first white ligers: Four brothers are rarest big cats on the planet
- Opposing Views A White Lion And A White Tiger Make Babies (Photos)
- SoftPedia World's First White Ligers Born in South Carolina
- Miami CBS Rare White Lion Makes Debut In Jungle Island’s New “Lion’s Den”
- NBC Miami Jungle Island Opening New Lion's Den
