Triplet Liger Cubs at Wisconsin

It happened in 2001, when a female liger gave birth to 3 triplet ligers at a zoo in Wisconsin. The names of these three triplet ligers were Topas, Emerald and Sapphire. This happened all incidentally; when a female tiger and male lion were both kept in the same captivity area and they started to mate together. In animal sanctuaries, often the space becomes less in the cages, and sometimes two big cats belonging to relatively different species are even kept together as well. Since tigers and lions are competitive in their strength therefore, their zoo keepers don't mind taking such risks.

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Since these ligers needed to be bottled fed, they were sent to the homes of the zoo keepers and big cat trainers working at the animal sanctuary. These individuals were very experienced and had a profound knowledge about training and feeding big cat cubs. Moreover, experts believe that if the ligers are treated well in their childhood, it becomes very easier for the individuals to handle them when they grow up. Therefore, training specifically matters a lot.

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At the age of 90 days about 3 months, these ligers weighed about 35 pounds. Our one previous study showed a liger cub named as Radar, which weighed 40 pound at the age of almost 120 days. Therefore, these liger cubs' growth was very fast as compared to the growth of the liger named as Radar. It is also believed that ligers during their first year on average gain almost 1 pound in one particular day. This growth is very much faster as compared to other big cats like lions, tigers and jaguars.

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Their keeper said that the liger cubs are more or less more like lions in terms of their behavior. They like to be friendly, they like to socialize and they interact a lot. Lions are believed to be highly socialized animals. Their love for water and tolerance is associated with the attributes of the tigers. Tigers are believed to be more tolerant as compared to lions.

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Sources and References

Barett, L. (2004). Lions & Tigers & Ligers. Boys' Quest, 10 (1), 10-11.

Read 99 Facts of Ligers