Shasta - The Only Liger of 1972
Shasta the liger was born during the year 1948. Shasta the liger was born to an African male lion and a Siberian tigress. Shasta was a female tiger. Shasta was born at Hogle Zoo which is still located at Utah, USA. The exact address of Hogle Zoo is "2600 Sunnyside Avenue (840 South) Salt Lake City, Utah (UT) 84108". Shasta the liger lived for about 24 years and she died in 1972. However; her death made a big history as well as she was accredited as a longest living liger on planet earth. Shasta the liger lived for more than 24 years. This is still the highest recorded age for the liger as well as no other liger has so far been recorded to live that much longer.
Today Shasta is the most famous liger in the world and she is famous because of her long age (24 years). However; Shasta the liger was famous throughout her life, when she was alive. Shasta was believed to be the only liger at the time of her death (1972). Being the only one of her kind, Shasta was very famous at that time as people from all over the world did come to Hogle Zoo to watch this amazing and majestic big cat (i.e., liger). So Shasta the liger did gain a global popularity even when she was alive and she was nothing less than an animal celebrity. She is still enlisted as one of the most popular animals which had been the part of Hogle Zoo.
Shasta the liger has beautiful pale brown stripes resembling exactly like that of the tiger. She had even more stripes (pale brown in color) than a normal tiger. She inherited her tawny brown skin complexion from her father while she inherited her stripes and face markings from her mother. Even her tail resembled like that of a tiger (A liger has a tail resembling exactly like a tiger). Shasta the liger had a very mild personality and she was known to be very kind & while living in her enclosure. Her favorite food included beef, deer, mutton and even chicken as well.
Shasta the liger died because kidney failure. Had her Kidney remained healthy she could have lived even beyond 24 years as well. Throughout her life Shasta the liger weighed around 350 to 400 pounds. However; at the time of her death, the weight of Shasta the liger declined significantly and she was believed to be around 90 to 120 pounds at that time. Upon the death of Shasta the liger, there was a big moment of sorrow throughout the world as newspaper marked the headline "The world's only liger has died". Today Shasta the liger is part of the golden history of the liger; as the longest living liger in the world.
Considering her longest age among the ligers as a hallmark, the authorities within USA at that time decided to preserve the body of Shasta the liger and display it as some museum. So her dead body was immediately transferred to Utah University; where; her body was stuffed and then later transferred further to Bean museum. Her stuff is still present at Bean Museum today while her pictures are also on display as well. People still regularly visit bean museum and they pay tribute & honor to Shasta the liger. So if you ever want to meet Shasta the liger; you can always visit bean museum to watch Shasta the liger.
Shasta the liger lived alone in her enclosure. All the pictures which we have seen specifically showed her being living a lonely life. So no other big cat was sharing her enclosure. Since Shasta was a female liger and female ligers are definitely fertile (This has been proven on many accounts); therefore; if Shasta had a male lion or tiger along with her; she could have easily given birth to li-ligers or ti-ligers. Maybe at that time the authorities at Hogle Zoo would have thought that hybrids are not fertile, therefore; they didn't include any male lion or tiger in her enclosure.
The age of Shasta the liger has exposed many fallacies and myths about ligers. Many animal rights activists these days are blindly positing that ligers do not live long; so they need to review their theory right now. The age of Shasta the liger specifically proves that ligers not only live healthy but they live as long as lions and tigers. Usually the average age for a liger is believed to be around 15 years at maximum within captivity. So the age of 24 years is way more than that and it pretty much satisfies the statement that ligers live normal and longer as well.
