Liger Cubs vs Tiger Cubs - Growth Rate

Ligers are the biggest cat in the world. It weighs for around 900 to 1200 pounds. This makes ligers the biggest wild cat in the world among the current existing species of big cats. The liger cubs and the tiger cubs are born through the tigress. Therefore, both the tiger cubs and liger cubs are given birth through same animal species which is tigress. Whether these both cubs are born with the same weights or with a difference is the key focus of this article. Moreover, whether these cubs grow with the same pace or different pace is also a big question mark of this article.

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There can be several possibilities.
• First one is right from the start the liger cubs and tiger cubs weigh the same and later the liger cubs experience a higher degree of growth.
• Liger cubs are slightly bigger than the tiger cubs at birth right from the start and the growth of the liger cubs increases at faster rates as compared to the tiger cubs, as the lifespan of the species increases.

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According to the tiger records, a 7 days old tiger weighs around 0.8 Kg which makes up around 1.8 pounds. A 50 to 60 days old tiger weighs around 9.5 pounds. A 120-130 days old tiger weighs around 35.2 pounds (Heptner, Sludskii, Komarov & Komorov, 1992).

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According to the specimen of Wayne liger, when it was 7 (49 days) weeks old, it weighed around 16 pounds. A specimen of another liger named as Radar, when it was 17 (119 Days) weeks old, it weighed 40 pounds (Chaffin, 2008). According to the specimen of the Shasta the liger cub, when it was born it weighed around 2 pounds (Life Magazine, 1948).

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From the above chart, it is easier to understand that during first 7 days, the weights of the liger and tiger cubs are almost the same. However, from day 7 onwards to day 60, the differences of the weights between the two cubs have been phenomenal, with liger weighing nearly a one and a half more. Similarly the day 7 to day 60, the tiger cub weighs nearly 10 pounds, while the liger cub weighs 16 pounds.

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By the time the liger cub reaches the age of 120 days, the liger cubs weight around 40 pounds. On the other hand in 120 days the tiger cubs weigh around 35 pounds. Therefore, right from the beginning times the ligers as a cub start to gain a huge growth momentum as compared to the Siberian tigers.

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The best indicator of the Liger Cubs Growth is their weight. By measuring their weights one can very easily understand the growth rate at which these liger cubs are growing. There can be other dimensions too such as height and lengths etc. but they might be more better for the adult ligers measurements.

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