Hybrid animals

[Toaster126]

http://www.hemmy.net/2006/06/19/top-10-hybrid-animals/

This is an facinating article I read on hybrid animals. It is a top 10 list of hybrids. I had no idea there were lots of viable kinds of hybrids. I was under the impression that most that weren't ligers\tigons or mules\hinnies were unable to survive.

I'm sorry for the formatting; there were lots of pictures in the article so the c\p doesn't look very good. I would encourage all who are interested to click the link so they can see the pictures.

Originally Posted by http://www.hemmy.net/2006/06/19/top-10-hybrid-animals/

Our editors have created a list about the top 10 hybrid animals. Hybrid animals are cross-breds between animals of similar genetics. They mostly exist in captivity and are the result of human intervention.


10. Liger/Tigon
Though they are fascinating animals, they get the last of the list because they are the most popular known among the hybrids. Ligers are crossbreeds between a male lion while Tigons are crossbreds between a male tiger and a female lion. Ligers are the world's largest cats. Tigons on the other hand, are prone towards dwarfism and are usually smaller than either of their parents. Male Ligers/Tigons are sterile while the females are often fertile. Below shows Hercules, a liger from The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species in Miami, Florida.



He stands at 10ft and was an accidental result of two enormous cats living close together.



A liger is really an enormous cat.

Futher Read: Truth Or Fiction

9. Wolf Dog
Dogs and wolves tend to crossbreed rather freely. The wolf is a shy animal depending on nuances in body language, facial expression and on hunting skills to survive. Their jaws are much stronger than those of a dog and are often used to exert dominance. For a dog wolf hybrid, it is not known when it will display a wolf behaviour or dog behaviour or something in between. Obedience training is a must in order to tame the animal.



Further Read: Dog's Owner Guide

8. Iron Age Pig
Domestic Tamworth pigs are crossbred with wild boar to create 'Iron Age Pigs'. The hybrids are tamer than wild boar but less tractable than domestic swine and generally become specialist pork sausages. Most of them are bred for the specialist meat trade.



Further Read: Wikipedia

7. Zebroid
A zorse is the result of crossbreeding a horse and a zebra. A zonkey is the result of crossbreeding a donkey with a zebra. The Zony is the result of crossbreeding a pony to a zebra. All these three are called zebroids - defined as a cross between a zebra and any other equid. Zebroids are preferred over zebra for practical uses such as riding because of its body shape. However it is more inclined to be temperamental and can prove to be difficult to handle.



A Zorse



A Zonkey



A Zony

Further Read: Green Apple, Wikipedia

6. Cama
A Cama is a hybrid between a camel and a llama. They are born via artificial insemination due to the huge difference in sizes of the animals which disallow natural breeding. A Cama usually has the short ears and long tails of a camel but the cloven hooves of a llama. Also most noticeably is the absence of the hump.



Rama's parents shown behind, a camel and llama.



This is Rama the Cama at two days old.



Rama at two years of age as a young adult.

Further Read: Taylor Llamas, Wikipedia

5. Grolar, Pizzly
A grolar/pizzly hybrid is the product of a grizzly bear and a polar bear. Although the two bears are genetically similar, they tend to avoid each other in the wild. During 16 April 2006, a hybrid bear was shot dead by Jim Martell,a hunter from the United States, in Canada. It was the first time a hybrid was found in the wild where previous records of grolars or pizzlies have only been found in zoos.



A grolar, pizzly displayed at the Rothschild Museum, Tring, copyright Sarah Hartwell

Further Read: BBC News, Wikipedia

4. Leopon
A Leopon is the result of breeding a male leopard and a female lion. The head of the animal is similar to that of a lion while the rest of the bodies carries similarities to leopards. The most successful breeding programme was at the Koshien Hanshin Park in Nishinomiya City, Japan. Leopons are larger than leopards and likes to climb and enjoy water.



A leopon at a zoo.

Further Read: Wikipedia

3. Hybrid Pheasant
The Golden Phesant has commonly been crossed with the similar Lady Amherst's Pheasant. The result is a hybrid with distinguished colors from its parents.



A Golden Pheasant



A Lady Amherst Pheasant



Hybrid Pheasant displayed at Rothschild Museum Copyright Sarah Hartwell

Further Read: Messy Beasts

2. Wolphin
A wolphin is a rare hybrid formed from a cross between a bottlenose dolphin and a false killer whale. There are currently only two in captivity at the Sea Life Park in Hawaii. A wolphin's size, colour and shape are intermediate between the parent species. The first captive wolphin was Kekaimalu, which shows mixed heritage even in its teeth: bottlenose dolphins have 88, false killer whales have 44 and Kekaimalu has 66!



Kekaimalu, The Wolphin

Further Read: Wikipedia

1. Ti-Liger, Ti-Tigon, Li-Tigon, Li-Liger
The top spot goes to ti-ligers/ti-tigon/li-tigons/li-ligers because it is a hybrid among the hybrids. It is a cross breed between a male tiger and a female liger/tigon or a male lion with a female tigon/liger. Do note that female ligers or tigons are fertile. They are extremely rare and are in mostly private ownership within a behavioural studies programme. In the case of ti-ligers, they have unusual striping where it breaks up and display a blotchy appearance. Since they are 3/4 tiger, their characteristics inhibit more of those of a tiger than a lion.

Further Read: Lair Web

I would love to just post that link and be done here, but that is against the rules. So, the question I would pose to the board is "what do you think about hybrid animals from an ethical standpoint?" Do you think it's a valid use of science to intentionally breed these strange creatures, or is it an abuse of power and perversion of two species.

I believe that while hybrids are pretty damn cool, I think that they should only be bred for a specific purpose or job. I don't think it is good to create them just because we can. If the animals naturally find each other and mate, let them do that. I just don't see a benefit to mankind from making most of these animals. I mean, the benefit of a mule is unmistakable, but what human good does a pizzly bear serve?

[Charlatan]

These things do occur in the wild as well. There was a wild Polar/Grizzly killed about a month ago in the north...

I don't have any issue with this... and I base this mostly on the mule.

[Eweser]

Originally Posted by Toaster126

I believe that while hybrids are pretty damn cool, I think that they should only be bred for a specific purpose or job. I don't think it is good to create them just because we can. If the animals naturally find each other and mate, let them do that. I just don't see a benefit to mankind from making most of these animals. I mean, the benefit of a mule is unmistakable, but what human good does a pizzly bear serve?

I'm in agreement with this. If it happens in the wild, great. If it serves a purpose that's not able to be filled with natural animals or can be served better with the hybrids, great. That was my first thoughts when reading the article and looking at the animals. Some of them are beautiful or odd, but to do it just to say it was done doesn't seem like a credible reason to me.

[Gilda]

There was a time last year when I was fully prepared to throttle the next teenage boy who made mention of a tigon/liger and then laughed uproariously. It was some kind of obsession among the boys at the middle school where I was teaching, and they all thought there was something extraordinarily funny about it. At one point I had to tell them that the next time someone comes up and asks me "Did you know there is such a thing as a tigon/liger" would be writing a 1000 word essay on the subject.

I'm very fortunate not to have actually smacked one or two of them. I was sorely tempted on several occasions.

Gilda

[Ample]

PICS!!!

I got to see what some of these hybrids look like. Toaster you have my curiosity now.

[Gatorade Frost]

I figure they're no more useful than if we bread a grizzly bear with another grizzly bear. In captivity they don't serve any purpose aside from being nice to look at in zoos. Same with most other animals like Pandas. At least by breeding a lion and a tiger or a grizzly and polar bear we learn about the distance between two animals they genetically can be before you don't have a viable animal. There's at least some biological science behind why it might be useful to breed some of these animals.

[JustJess]

Originally Posted by Gilda

There was a time last year when I was fully prepared to throttle the next teenage boy who made mention of a tigon/liger and then laughed uproariously. It was some kind of obsession among the boys at the middle school where I was teaching, and they all thought there was something extraordinarily funny about it. At one point I had to tell them that the next time someone comes up and asks me "Did you know there is such a thing as a tigon/liger" would be writing a 1000 word essay on the subject.

I'm very fortunate not to have actually smacked one or two of them. I was sorely tempted on several occasions.

Gilda

It's a quote from Napolean Dynamite. That movie was very popular last year, and I *still* have to smack Quadro sometimes for killing the jokes from it. Gosh.

[Elphaba]

9. Wolf Dog
Dogs and wolves tend to crossbreed rather freely. The wolf is a shy animal depending on nuances in body language, facial expression and on hunting skills to survive. Their jaws are much stronger than those of a dog and are often used to exert dominance. For a dog wolf hybrid, it is not known when it will display a wolf behaviour or dog behaviour or something in between. Obedience training is a must in order to tame the animal.

I am adamently oppossed to the human breeding of wolf dogs as pets. My husband gave obedience training classes and the only dog he could not approach in years of working with them was a wolf dog.

[samcol]

I don't have any problem at all with hybrid animals being bred as long as it isn't done in a labratory. I do have a real problem with scientist adding cockroach genes to tomatos and spiders to goats and pigs to humans. These things aren't natural and could end up creating super bacterias or plagues that could be devestating to the original species and other forms of life.

[Cynthetiq]

Originally Posted by JustJess

It's a quote from Napolean Dynamite. That movie was very popular last year, and I *still* have to smack Quadro sometimes for killing the jokes from it. Gosh.

And he's mad about "Why do we fall????"

eh... i don't have any real opinion on this matter.

[maleficent]

What's wrong with the animals that they have to mate outside their own species They couldn't get anyone in their own genus/species to pay the attention?

[Gilda]

Originally Posted by JustJess

It's a quote from Napolean Dynamite. That movie was very popular last year, and I *still* have to smack Quadro sometimes for killing the jokes from it. Gosh.

Ok, then I'd have had two reasons to smack them. Quoting movie lines out of context is one of my pet peeves. When I was in high school it was Strange Brew.

Was it an Austin Powers/Beavis and Butthead type of thing where we're supposed to be laughing at what an idiot the character is for doing and saying these things, but they somehow miss the point and start imitating the character as if he were "cool"? It sure has that flavor.

Gilda

[TexanAvenger]

Damn... And I thought I was going to find an article here on how to get better MPG out of my cocker spaniel.

If the animals try to mate and it works, let them. It's another way to push evolution.

And hey, can you imagine being a lion, looking over to see some sexy tiger ass, and not wanting to go over there and buy her a few drinks?.

[Gilda]

Originally Posted by maleficent

What's wrong with the animals that they have to mate outside their own species They couldn't get anyone in their own genus/species to pay the attention?

Now there's a philosophy I can get behind. We should mate with those that are like us, not those who are different from us.

Gilda

[maleficent]

Originally Posted by TexanAvenger

And hey, can you imagine being a lion, looking over to see some sexy tiger ass, and not wanting to go over there and buy her a few drinks?.

I heard thru the grapevine that sexy lady tigers are pretty easy - just purr at them and well.... RAWR!!! no drinks necessary.

[cookmo]

I just have one little thing that I have to say. Toaster126's question was whether or not it was ethical to create these animals. So far, the general concensus seem's to be that it is o.k. as long as the animals can be of some USE. I could be wrong, but I always thaught that one of the basic rules of ethics/morality was never to USE something for personal gain.

With that being said, I think that it is o.k. as long it could happen in the wild naturally, but I am against creating those animals which can only be created through major unnatural gross manipulation.

[Toaster126]

Originally Posted by cookmo

I just have one little thing that I have to say. Toaster126's question was whether or not it was ethical to create these animals. So far, the general concensus seem's to be that it is o.k. as long as the animals can be of some USE. I could be wrong, but I always thaught that one of the basic rules of ethics/morality was never to USE something for personal gain.

I don't see an ethical problem with using an animal to do tasks. The animal gets life, food, shelter, attention, and sometimes affection, and all it has to do in return is whatever task it is used for.

Some people use the point that animals would rather enjoy being left to their own devices, and I usually use a working dog as an example. Dogs are at their happiest when they are working with a pack\team\leader to accomplish things. I admit some animals don't seem to get pleasure out of doing tasks, but it seems that the more useful the animal, the more it likes doing useful shit.

[cookmo]

Good point, I had not thaught of it that way.

I guess it's not using if both parties are getting something out of it.

[sapiens]

Originally Posted by Toaster126

I admit some animals don't seem to get pleasure out of doing tasks, but it seems that the more useful the animal, the more it likes doing useful shit.

That's not an accident. They have been selectively bred to both enjoy working and be good at it. (Which you probably already know).

That said, I don't have an ethical problem with using animals to work (or to eat for that matter). I also don't have a problem with these hybrids if there is a useful purpose to it (beyond the "here's a monkey with four asses", "let's do it because we can" purpose).

Originally Posted by Texan Avenger

It's another way to push evolution.

Push it where? Why push it?

Originally Posted by Gilda

Now there's a philosophy I can get behind. We should mate with those that are like us, not those who are different from us.

Ha!

[ARTelevision]

I don't have any view of ethics.
It's not much different than religion as far as I'm concerned.

But anyway, what a great contrib.
I knew of a couple of these - but not most of them.
Quite mind-expanding !
Thanks,
Art

[Coppertop]

What, no <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuman">Chumans</a>? Weak.

[Lady Sage]

Call me crazy (Sage yer crazy) but they are doing it in the wild... I choose to call it the next stage in evolution... It may well be a future way to prevent extinction... but thats a whole new subject. I have no control over it and the ligon in the pics is stunning!

To me its no different than breeding yorkiepoos or poogles. We breed pure bred dogs to our taste and cats too and no one pitches a hissy.

[TexanAvenger]

Originally Posted by sapiens

Push it where? Why push it?

I didn't mean actively pushing it, though I don't know that I think that's necessarily bad. I meant more that it's just another way for it to work; members of different species mating to create an entirely new species, as opposed to members of the same species procreating to create a new one.

You know: 4+2=6 just as much as 3+3 does.

Originally Posted by Coppertop

What, no <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuman">Chumans</a>? Weak.

Weak? Naw, man, the Humanzees are the ones that're weak and stupid. The Chumans are Human intelligence inside a tough, muscular chimp exterior.

Scary shit, man. Planet of the Apes scary.

[troit]

I am sure that some of these do occur in the wild but a few just seem to be a bit far streched - a Leapon?



Not trying to sound to critical - thanks for the article toaster...

[Toaster126]

Originally Posted by cookmo

Good point, I had not thaught of it that way.

I guess it's not using if both parties are getting something out of it.

Oh, I think it's still using, but I don't think that's wrong when it's reciprocal. I mean, when you boil human friendship down to the basic level, you are using another person to meet your needs. You just have them doing the same thing.

Originally Posted by Coppertop

What, no <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuman">Chumans</a>? Weak.

LOL. I think you found my ick factor. Wow.