The liger is a hybrid cross between a male lion and a tigress. Thus, it has parents with the same genus but of different species. It is distinct from the similar hybrid tigon. It is the largest of all known extant felines.

Ligers enjoy swimming, which is a characteristic of tigers, and are very sociable like lions. Ligers exist only in captivity because the habitats of the parental species do not overlap in the wild. Historically, when the Asiatic Lion was prolific, the territories of lions and tigers did overlap and there are legends of ligers existing in the wild. Notably, ligers typically grow larger than either parent species, unlike tigons which tend to be about as large as a female tiger and is the cross between a male tiger and a female lion.

The liger is often believed to represent the largest known cat in the world. Males reach a total length of 3 to 3.5 m, meaning they are larger than large Siberian tiger males. 

Jungle Island, an interactive animal theme park in Miami, is home to a liger named Hercules, the largest non-obese liger, who is recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest living cat on Earth, weighing over 410 kg (904 lb).

Hercules

How Ligers are made

I don’t think this is a rape.  The Tiger is just submissive, I think.

Rapid deforestation and excessive human intervention into wildlife habitat has lead to frequent straying of wild animals into human habitation. Intrusion into wildlife habitat typically occurs due to illegal encroachment and also when roads, railroads, canals, electric power lines, and pipelines penetrate and divide wildlife habitat. Wild animals attempting to cross roads often find themselves in front of speeding vehicles.

Road mortality has significantly impacted a number of prominent species in the United States and elsewhere, including white-tailed deer, Florida panthers, and black bears. According to a study made in 2005, nearly 1.5 million traffic accidents involving deer occur each year in the United States that cause an estimated $1.1 billion in vehicle damage. In addition, species that are unable to migrate across roads to reach resources such as food, shelter and mates experiences reduced reproductive and survival rates.

Wildlife overpass in Banff National Park. Photo: Joel Sartore

One way to minimize human-wildlife conflict is to construct wildlife crossings such as bridges and underpasses that allow animals to cross human-made barriers safely. The first wildlife crossings were constructed in France during the 1950s. Since then, several European countries including the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, and France have been using various crossing structures to reduce the conflict between wildlife and roads. In the Netherlands alone there are more than 600 tunnels installed under major and minor roads including the longest “ecoduct” viaduct, near Crailo that runs 800 meters.

Wildlife crossings have also become increasingly common in Canada and the United States. The most recognizable wildlife crossings in the world are found in Banff National Park in Alberta where the national park is bisected by a large commercial road called the Trans-Canada Highway. To reduce the effect of the four lane highway, 24 vegetated overpasses and underpasses were built to ensure habitat connectivity and protect motorists. These passes are used regularly by bears, moose, deer, wolves, elk, and many other species.

In the United States, thousands of wildlife crossings have been built in the past 30 years, including culverts, bridges, and overpasses. These have been used to protect Mountain Goats in Montana, Spotted Salamanders in Massachusetts, Bighorn Sheep in Colorado, Desert Tortoises in California, and endangered Florida Panthers in Florida.

The Netherlands contains an impressive number of wildlife crossings – over 600, that includes both underpasses and ecoducts. The Veluwe, a 1000 square kilometers of woods, heathland and drifting sands, the largest lowland nature area in North Western Europe, contains nine ecoducts, 50 meters wide on average, that are used to shuttle wildlife across highways that transect the Veluwe. The Netherlands also boasts the world’s longest ecoduct-wildlife overpass called the Natuurbrug Zanderij Crailo. This massive structure, completed in 2006, is 50 m wide and over 800 m long and spans a railway line, business park, river, roadway, and sports complex.

Ecoduct Borkeld in the Netherlands.

Banff.

Ecoduct Kikbeek in Hoge Kempen National Park, Belgium.

Banff

Elephant underpass in Kenya.

• Swiss diver Franco Banfi went to the Mato Grosso region of Brazil to capture these amazing close-up of enormous anaconda snakes in their natural habitat
• These underwater beasts feed on rodents, birds and fish, lurking close to surface coiled and ready to strike

It lurks just inches below the surface coiled and ready to strike – and yet you wouldn’t know it was there.

These remarkable images show the enormous 26-foot (eight metre) anacondas of Mato Grosso in Brazil searching for prey in the murky depths.

They were captured by brave diver and snake enthusiast Franco Banfi, 53, who joined the beasts in their natural habitat armed only with a camera.

Ready to strike: Brave diver and snake enthusiast Franco Banfi captured this image of an enormous anaconda snake lurking beneath the surface of a river in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

Hunting: This anaconda scans the surface of the water looking for prey such as mice, fish or birds

Enormous: This coiled anaconda was about eight metres in length. Swiss diver Franco Banfi captured the photographs on a ten-day visit to the Mato Grosso do Sul region in Brazil

In another shot, Banfi gets up close to a huge anaconda that is lying on the riverbank and glistening in the ferocious tropical heat.

Thankfully for the photographer, it had just gobbled up a capybara rodent and wasn’t interested in devouring him as a second course.

Banfi, a father-of-two from Switzerland, said: ‘As the snake had just eaten it didn’t take much interest in us.

‘Everything is possible but I don’t think it would have eaten us. I was very close, I could have touched it if I wanted to.’

Time for your close-up: Banfi was able to reach out and touch this massive anaconda sunbathing on the riverbank having devoured a capybara rodent

He saw six different female anaconda snakes on his ten-day trip to the Mato Grosso do Sul region, right in the heart of South America.

The region is known for its diverse natural beauty and attracts thousands of visitors every year.
The name literally means ‘Thick Forest of the South’ and it’s easy to see why.

Banfi added: ‘At the first moment it’s scary because you don’t know the animal and everybody says it’s dangerous.

‘But after a while you understand that nothing happens if you respect the snake.

‘I have never been so close to a snake like this before. But I think a small poisonous snake is more scary than a big one. At least you can see the anacondas clearly and know what they’re doing.’

Say cheese! Banfi, 53, goes up close to take an underwater shot of one of the anacondas. He saw six huge female snakes during his time in Brazil

On the prowl: The bright sunlight suggests this anaconda is close to the surface and about to attack

Elegant: This smaller snake glides through the waters

This story was originally published by the Daily Mail in 2012.

A wild video circulating online shows the moment that a man at a zoo gets too close to an orangutan and winds up in the mighty creature’s unrelenting grasp. According to a local media report, the unsettling incident occurred on Monday at the Kasang Kulim Zoo in the Indonesian city of Pekanbaru. Hoping to produce something viral for his Instagram account, a foolhardy young man named Hasanal Arifin managed to achieve his goal in a manner that he now undoubtedly regrets as the video of his jaw-dropping encounter at the facility has spread like wildfire online as a reminder that it is rather unwise to get too close to the animals while visiting a zoo.

In the footage, Arifin can be seen extending his hands towards the great ape in a somewhat taunting fashion and then soon finds that the ‘joke’ is on him as the creature reaches through the bars of its cage and grabs hold of the young man’s shirt. With an unnerving look of determination, the orangutan begins slowly pulling the terrified zoo patron towards the cage, while Arifin yells out for help and, no doubt, wonders what will become of him should the mighty creature win the worrisome tug of war. Responding to his cries, a second individual runs over to the scene, but wisely keeps his distance from the aggressive creature after it swats him away.

Amazingly, this was just the beginning of Arifin’s ordeal as the orangutan releases its tenuous grip on his shirt in favor of something more solid: the young man’s leg! Wrapping its long arms around the appendage, the ape refuses to let go, even when the aspiring social media star eventually gets lifted off the ground and turned sideways against the cage as his friend tries to pull him away from the ornery orangutan. Eventually Arifin manages to be yanked away from the angry animal just as the creature appears to be poised to take a bite out of his bare foot. Fortunately, he was able to escape the situation without being injured and, one presumes, with a newfound respect for the pugilistic primate.

Since being posted to social media on Tuesday, the young man’s video has quickly gone viral around the world, though his hopes for online fame appear to have been dashed since most media outlets have failed to identify him as the man who tangled with the orangutan. Be that as it may, one Indonesian website did place Arifin at the center of the misadventure and he has since expressed deep regret for his ape-based antics at the zoo, offering an apology to the facility for crossing the guardrails in order to get closer to the creature. While its uncertain if the young man will get into any trouble for the ill-advised viral video, one suspects that the sheer terror that he felt while in the orangutan’s grip may be punishment enough.