The orgin of the LIGER!

Ligers Make a "Dynamite" Leap Into the Limelight
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/08/0804_050804_ligers.html

Half lion and half tiger this animal really does exsist, though some still do not think so. This animal was on the limelight after the 2004 movie "Napoleon Dynamite". Fans ask "How are they really like?" This animal is bred from female tigers and male lions. They have shaggy manes and faint stripes, they can also roar like lions as well as chuff like tigers do. Ligers weigh about one thousand pounds and eat 50 pounds of food in one single meal.  "'For the most part they're really laid back,' said Jason Hutcherson, vice president of Wild Animal Safari in Pine Mountain, Georgia." The drive through park is said to house 10 of the big cats which is the biggest number of these cats housed in one zoo. Since 1999 this zoo has bred these animals together and has produced 24 ligers. Not all of them turned out healthy though. 3 of 24 of those cubs had a so called "genetic disorder" which was just an excuse for the most part. "Accredited zoos frown on the practice of mixing two different species and have never bred ligers, says Jane Ballentine, a spokesperson for the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, based in Silver Spring, Maryland"

Critique: I'm glad that this post had alot of good basic information about the breed of the liger though I wish it would go into detail more about the personality of the cat rather than the looks of it. I do however like how they zoom into the opposing side of the breeding, for example how they "frown upon it". It is good to know about the other side of the story rather than the one-sided information.

Impact: Of course I believe that breeding these two animals together is not exactly right but with my expirience of breeding dogs I have noticed that not all of 24 pups/ cubs usually survive. Liger or tiger I believe that not all of 24 would survive either way. A liger is my favorite animal therefore I'm not entirely against breeding them, but it would be better not to do it as often. Rather the zoos do it or not it's not a big deal to me.