12 Most SHOCKING Real Animal Hybrids.
#12.
“Liger”-The Liger is probably the most famous of all animal hybrids, due to their
magnificent appearance and incredible physical traits.
When you cross a male lion and a female tiger the result is the powerful liger, a cross
between a female lion and male tiger it is called a tigon.
When a lion and tiger breed together it causes gigantism in their young, so ligers end up
being much larger than the biggest of lions.
They can grow upwards of 900 pounds and have a length of 11 feet long, which makes them
the largest cats in the world.
These creatures can also jump higher and run faster than their parents with a top speed
of around 60 miles per hour.
Ligers aren’t found naturally in wild as lions and tigers don’t dwell in the same
regions of the world, but they have existed since at least the 1700s, by being bred in
captivity.
Though most of the time they are created via artificial insemination, tigers and lions
have on occasion mated with each other when kept in the same enclosure.
Currently there are about 100 ligers in the world, with the vast majority living in the
United States.
#11.
“Iron Age Pig”-An Iron Age Pig is born when a domesticated Tamworth pig and a wild
boar are bred together.
They were originally created in the 1980s by English farmers and the resulting mix looks
like what swine breeders say a prehistoric pig would have looked like, hence the name
“Iron Age”.
Iron Age piglets are usually born with stripes that are similar to that of a boar, which
fade as they age.
They are also known to be more aggressive than normal domestic pigs and exhibit other
wild traits such as being adept as escaping their pens.
This cute hybrid is mainly bred to sidestep the need for a dangerous animal hunting license,
which is required to hunt boar.
Boar meat is highly sought after by hunters for the gamey attributes of its pork, which
the Iron Age pig also has but since it is bred in captivity, doesn’t need to be hunted.
#10.
“Killer Bees”-The vicious Africanized Honey Bees known throughout the world as Killer
Bees were actually a result of hybridization gone afoul.
In Brazil in the 1950s, a biologist named Warwick Kerr bred European Honey Bees with
African Honey Bees to try and establish a species that produced more honey, but what
he ended up with was a savage swarm of killer bees.
When the bees escaped from captivity they spread throughout the world and formed substantial
hybrid populations multiplying at an alarming rate.
Killer bees are far more aggressive than normal honey bees, have a faster reaction to attack
time, sting people ten times more frequently and are frighteningly tenacious.
The bees have been known to follow their victims over a quarter of a mile just to sting them.
Because of all these traits combined they have caused thousands of people to be hospitalized
(and worse) over the years.
#9.
“Zebroid”- A Zebroid is any combination of a Zebra and another species of Equine and
each of the hybrids has its own Dr. Seuss sounding name.
If a zebra is bred with a donkey it is called a ‘zedonk’, with a mule it’s a ‘zebrule’,
with a pony it’s a ‘zony’ and with horse its called a ‘zorse’, of course.
The general term zebroid is usually applied to the donkey or horse hybrid.
Zebroids were originally bred in Africa as pack animals because of their stronger resistance
to disease than that of domesticated horses.
Because a baby zebroid usually bears stripes but has the calmer nature of a domesticated
animal, they are now crossbred just for their looks alone, which horse lovers adore.
#8.
“Mule Bird”- Goldfinches and canaries are two birds that are considered to have
some of the most dulcet songs.
So naturally, someone tried to breed them together and the result was a hybrid called
a mule that had one of the most uniquely beautiful songs in the world.
A mule can be any type of bird hybrid but the one most commonly associated with it is
the goldfinch and canary combination.
Bird hybridization has been popular among bird-lovers for centuries and glorified as
an art form in some European countries.
The ridiculous amount of possible mule birds that can be created have shown some remarkable
traits.
Mules can have increased intelligence from that of their parents, unique feather color
and patterns that wouldn’t exist in the wild and also produce some very distinct bird
songs.
Most of the mules that have been born are infertile so it is rare to see any hybrids
that are bred with other hybrids, though it would most assuredly be a very fascinating
bird.
#7.
“Savannah”- A Savannah is a cross between the wild serval and a domestic cat and just
may be the cuddliest of the hybrids on our list.
Servals are an African wild cat about medium size that have spots similar to that of a
leopard or cheetah and these spots are retained in their offspring when bred with domestic
cats.
These two felines were first bred together in the 1980s and because of their exotic looking
coats and the increased intelligence, the spawn inherits from the Serval side have become
popular as pets.
They aren’t good pets for people who want a docile lap-cat, as the wild side of them
makes them quite rambunctious.
Savannahs are generally more athletically gifted than normal domestic cats, and much
more active.
Because of their intelligence and physical abilities, they are a lot better at getting
into trouble as well, as they are able to reach places normals cats can’t and can
even open latched doors or turn on faucets.
#6.
“Cama”-A Cama is a hybrid that mixes an Arabian Camel, or dromedary, with that of
a Llama.
Camas have only been born as a result of artificial insemination and the crossbreeding has only
worked with a female llama and male camel as the parents.
Currently there are five Cama’s in the world all of which were born and live at the Camel
Reproduction Centre in Dubai.
They were bred in the hopes that someday they can be pack animals that can handle the desert
heat like Camels, yet have a Llama’s more cooperative disposition as Arabian camels
are notoriously ill-tempered.
Camas look exactly as you would expect them to, like an awkward teenager whose lacks the
proud of hump of his Camel father and inherited his goofy face from his Llama mother.
The cama is also smaller than both of its parents growing up to average of 130 pounds,
whereas Llamas have an average weight of 350 pounds and dromedaries typically weigh around
1,000 pounds.
This actually makes the Cama closer in size to that of its cousin species the Alpaca.
Camas vocalize similarly to that of a Camel and like them can consume incredible amounts
of water and can survive for extended periods of time without it.
#5.
“Narluga”- The narluga is a hybrid of the two cetacean species, the tusked narwhal
and pale dorsal finless beluga.
The Narluga is one of the more unique hybrids as it wasn’t the result of humans but instead
the crossbreeding occurred naturally in the ocean.
Narluga were first spotted in the Arctic Ocean during the 80s and sighting have since become
more frequent.
These creatures look mostly like their beluga parents but retain the dark spots from from
their narwhal parent as well as a bigger more burly looking head, but unfortunately they
lose the narwhals iconic tusk.
Biologists believe that the hybridization of the sister species is due to the changing
global climate.
Because of melting ice caps and warming water, the natural barriers that once stood between
them are going away allowing more interaction between them.
New barriers may also be forming where belugas and narwhals that become trapped in the same
region are forced to interbreed.
#4.
“Wolfdog”- Wolfdogs are one of the most common hybrids on Earth they occur naturally
and are also bred domestically.
As you might have guessed a wolfdog is the spawn of a wolf and a domestic dog.
The have been bred for thousands of years as a mean to create unique dog breed such
as the German Shepherd and huskies.
Wolfdogs usually are naturally born in areas where there is a lack of human interference
or in areas where wolf populations are declining and wolves have to find mates outside of their
species.
Wolfdogs can be trained and kept as pets but due to the feral nature of their genetic make-up,
this can be extremely taxing.
Wolfdogs also tend to be more aggressive than that of domestic dogs but still tamer than
wolves.
Because of their wild heritage extra permits are usually needed if one wants to keep a
wolfdog as a pet and there are currently no licensed vaccines meant specifically for the
breed and regular dog vaccinations may not be as effective.
Though they are one of the most beautiful looking animals in the world, The Human Society
of the United States lists wolfdogs in the their register as a wild animal and recommends
they not kept as pets for the sake of the animals and owners.
#3.
“Beefalo”- A Beefalo is what you get when you cross a domestic cow with the American
Buffalo.
They were first created by ranchers and geneticists in the early 1900s, and though they struggled
for years to create a beefalo that could reproduce on its own, in the 1960s they successfully
bred specimens that could.
One the surface the Beefalo looks like a cattle rancher’s dream as it combines the domesticity
of cattle with the size and savory meat of a buffalo.
They also produce more milk than that of the standard dairy cow.
However, beefalos still are considered wild animals and are harder to control than that
of cattle.
Conservationists warn that because of the hybridization, cattle DNA is slowly infringing
on that of the endangered wild bison population.
There are currently hundreds of ranches throughout the United States that breed, raise and slaughter
Beefalos, so if you are intrigued by the prospect of a beefalo burger it shouldn’t be too
hard to find.
#2.
“Grolar Bear”- The Grolar Bear is another amazing hybrid that occurs naturally in the
wild.
Sadly, their creation is also a result of changing Arctic climates.
Because Grizzly Bears are migrating further north to avoid warming weather, they are reaching
the edges of Polar Bear territory and starting to breed with them.
Although it happens infrequently there is evidence to show that as the earth keeps warming
the hybridization of the two species will only escalate, so much so that hundreds of
years from now they may fully breed into one species of Grolar Bears, if they can find
any colder climates to live in that is.
On a cute note Grolar Bears are also known by the name Pizzlies and tend to look like
a Grizzly Bear but with whitened fur.
They exhibit traits of the Grizzly like that of its head shape, claw size and brown-colored
paws but the shape of their body resembles that of a Polar Bear.
Interestingly enough Polar Bears evolved from Brown Bears around 150,000 years ago so the
appearance of Grolar Bears may give us insight into what a transitional species between the
Polar and Brown might have looked like.
#1.
“Wholphin”- The name ‘wholphin’ which kind of sounds like the noise your grandpa
makes when he sneezes, is actually a misnomer as the creature is a hybrid of two types of
dolphin and not that of a dolphin and a whale.
So why call it a wholphin?
Well it’s a cross between a bottlenose dolphin and a false killer whale.
A false killer whale has no relation to a killer whale also known as an Orca, which
also technically is a large dolphin.
False killer whales are the fourth largest species of dolphin and are on average twice
the size of the bottlenose, the most recognizable type of dolphin.
Because of the size difference between the two species, wholphins are only very rarely
found living in the wild.
As of today there is only one living in captivity, at Sea Life Park in Hawaii, and though there
have been several successful human instigated courtships between bottlenoses and false killer
whales most of the calves don’t live very long.
If they do grow to a mature age they exhibit traits of both parents: whereas false killer
whales have 44 teeth and bottlenoses have 88, wholphins have 66.
In size they also reach about halfway between the sizes of false killer whales and the smaller
bottlenose.
What two animals do you think would make the coolest hybrid?