Hobbs - The largest liger of all time

Hobbs remains the most profiled liger because of his massive size. During his time, Hobbs was the largest of all the big cats on planet Earth. He was even bigger than other ligers. If there will be an all-time list of the largest recorded big cats on Earth, Hobbs the Liger will top it. Moreover, Hobbs the Liger is still the benchmark that explains the maximum growth of ligers. This article highlights all the key attributes of Hobbs the Liger who lived in the 1990s and 2000s.

Hobbs was and is the biggest of all the ligers and big cats on planet earth. His physical features are still the benchmark which explain about how much a liger can grow?

Profile of Hobbs the Liger

Weight	922 Pounds
Height	12 Feet
Birth Year	1992
Death Year	2007

According to the official sources, Hobbs the Liger weighed 992 pounds (450 Kg). Hobbs was also recognized by the Guinness World Records as the largest big cat hybrid in 2004. And they have also confirmed his weight to be 992 pounds. However, at some point in his life, Hobbs the Liger also maintained a massive weight of 1200 pounds. Some news sources have even mentioned it as well. According to the officials closer to Hobbs, it wasn't possible to weigh him easily because of safety concerns. Therefore, his best weight didn't even come to the limelight. Apart from weight, Hobbs the Liger was almost 12 feet long. That was also a world record for a liger and any big cat.

Hobbs the Liger weighed 992 pounds and the Guinness Book of World Records also recognized him as the largest cat hybrid on planet Earth.

Briefly highlighting his birth and origin, Hobbs the Liger was born in Indiana on 18th August 1992. He also had four more siblings from the same litter. His early caretaker Tim stated that Hobbs was the smallest yet healthiest of all his siblings at birth. Hobbs was later shifted to the Sierra Safari Zoo. There in the zoo, he was named Hobbs, and he started to grow very fast. Hobbs used to eat 15 pounds of meat per day. Eyewitnesses revealed that he used to finish 15 pounds of meat within a minute and a half. And very quickly he became a huge liger. The presence of Hobbs as a liger was a massive boost to the Sierra Safari Zoo because the world had never seen such an animal before.

Hobbs the Liger was born in Indiana and he was later shifted to Sierra Safari Zoo, where he lived for the rest of his life. At his prime, he could finish 15 pounds of meat within a minute and a half.

Being a liger, Hobbs featured the behaviors of both lions and tigers. Hobbs used to roar like lions. On many occasions, he used to join the roaring of the other male lions at the Sierra Safari. However; he also used to chuff like a tiger for greeting his caretakers. Hobbs could also purr like a housecat and he used to do it frequently with his caretakers. Being a male liger, he was very territorial and used to frequently scent mark different areas of his enclosures. He also used to scent mark his caretakers and sometimes zoo visitors. Briefly, his behavior was very friendly with his caretakers. According to his caretakers despite being so big, Hobbs always exhibited playful behavior with them and other big cats in his enclosure.

Hobbs used to roar like a like and chuff like a tiger. He could chuff like a housecat too.

Despite being very huge, Hobbs had a very moderate and mild personality. According to his caretakers, he rarely showed any signs of aggression. According to Dr. Bhagavan Antle, a liger expert from Myrtle Beach Safari, South Carolina, USA, ligers tend to have mild and less aggressive personalities. The same was true about Hobbs the Liger. He was very tolerant of his caretakers. Moreover, he was also quite tolerant towards other big cats. Hobbs shared his enclosure with a tigress named Tasha. According to his caretakers, Hobbs and Tasha lived together for almost 9 years in that enclosure. Hobbs was even tolerant of his neighboring male lion named Kenya. He was also spotted sitting next to him with only a grill in between.

Hobbs the liger had a very mild personality with the least degree of aggression. He was very tolerant of the other big cats and his caretakers.

The authorities of the Sierra Safari Zoo offered all the necessary big cat caring facilities to Hobbs. First of all, his enclosure was quite spacious. Hobbs often enjoyed running and walking around in his enclosure. His enclosure also had a water reservoir, where Hobbs loved to swim or sit in the water. Hobbs inherited his love for swimming from his tiger genes. And around his enclosure, the best thing was he had very loving and dedicated caretakers, i.e., Tim Stoffel and Kelly. Hobbs the liger was one of the the biggest attractions of the Sierra Safari Zoo, especially after the movie “The Napoleon Dynamite” in which ligers were dubbed as some magical creatures.

The Sierra Safari Zoo offered the best big cat facilities to Hobbs. His caretakers Tim Stofel and Kelly were very caring and loving.

Apart from being recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records, Hobbs the Liger has been featured in various publications of National Geographic. According to his caretakers, he narrowly missed the chance to appear on the Good Morning America show. Hobbs had also been a greater focus of many animal researchers. At his time, there were only a handful of ligers worldwide. According to the estimates, between 1992 - 2007, there were less than 10 ligers in the world. The USA, Germany, Russia, and China were the only countries with ligers. As of 2025, there are about 100 ligers globally in almost a dozen countries.

Hobbs the liger twice appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records. By the time Hobbs lived, there were less than 10 ligers in the world.

Lastly, Hobbs the Liger lived for 15 years (1992 to 2007). He died of liver problems. However, at 15 years he already lived more than the average lifespan of both lions and tigers in captivity. Hobbs lived a very healthy life and hardly had any health issues. Lions in the wild usually live for 8 years and in captivity for around 12 to 15 years. The same is true about tigers and ligers. Even though Hobbs died in 2007, his record as the largest big cat ever weighing 992 pounds is still alive today. Furthermore, his references are still mentioned today when talking about the maximum size of a liger.

Hobbs the liger lived for almost 15 years. Hobbs died of liver problems but apart from that he lived a very healthy life.