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[Escape Goat]

BEIJING (AP) - A Chinese zoo official says two rare cubs born to a male lion and a female tiger are being nursed by a dog after they were abandoned by their mother.

Cong Wen of Xixiakou Wildlife Zoo in eastern China says four cubs called ligers were born to the lion and tiger earlier this month.

She said Tuesday the tiger mother fed the ligers for four days but then abandoned them for unknown reasons. Two died of weakness.

Cong said staff at the zoo in Shandong province found a dog who had just given birth to feed the surviving cubs.

She said the two cubs had trouble at first drinking milk from the dog but are now used to it.

Ligers are rare and are sometimes bred in zoos by mistake.

Awww. Nature can be pretty crazy. Looks like Momma Dog just wanted somebody to love <3

 

[Rapstah]

Racist mother. Cool dog, although I imagine its puppies aren't feeling too good right now.

 

[Kyleripman]

One of the dogs from the shelter where I work nursed some wild dog pups at the Pittsburgh zoo.

 

[Rygar 8 Bit]

 

[AceBandage]

Dogs feeding cats?!
MADNESS!

 

[Manager]

That dog will be eaten, freakin' ligers.

 

[sixteen-bit]

That animal is massive.

 

[Ryuukan]

Is the phrase 'died of weakness' the new code for shipped to Dubai now?

 

[Rlan]

 

[X-Frame]

So the puppies and liger cubs are step siblings. That is awesome!

Hope a reality show is made in a few years.

 

[Koomaster]

Ligers are rare and are sometimes bred in zoos by mistake.

How? Stop letting the tigers and lions roam around together and there won't be any of these 'mistakes'.

 

[Seraphis Cain]

Liger?

 

[Suairyu]

Tiglons are cuter. But ligers are fucking massive. They're the biggest known cat in the world.

 

[Slayven]

Tiglons are cuter. But ligers are fucking massive. They're the biggest known cat in the world.

Isn't that because their gene for stopping growth is fucked up?

 

[besiktas1]

Isn't that because their gene for stopping growth is fucked up?

yep

 

[Suairyu]

Isn't that because their gene for stopping growth is fucked up?

Potentially. Scientists aren't quite sure. But the same thing is observed in certain dog cross breeds - the resulting offspring grows larger than either parent species is capable of.

 

[shintoki]

That dog has just made powerful allies.

 

[Slayer-33]

Potentially. Scientists aren't quite sure. But the same thing is observed in certain dog cross breeds - the resulting offspring grows larger than either parent species is capable of.

Their powers combine

 

[Escape Goat]

That dog has just made powerful allies.

And some very deadly future enemies.

 

[markot]

goddamn tiger mums >.<

 

[Ezalc]

Tiglons are cuter. But ligers are fucking massive. They're the biggest known cat in the world.

Tigons*.

Anyway that dog is awesome, they should have given me a liger, I would have raised it, and then ride it all over my city.

 

[X-Frame]

Are Ligers good fighters? I mean it's obvious they trump all in size, but that also I assume could be a weakness since they need to be quick as well, and lion/tiger strikes are fast.

 

[ArjanN]

 

[Witchfinder General]

Subtle.

 

[Harry Dresden]

venkman.jpg

I have no words to describe my feelings right now.

 

[Warrior_Keoni]

Awesome doggy mommy! I wonder if young baby animals can recognize their adoptive moms as they grow older...

 

[nelsonroyale]

No doubt they crossed the tiger with the lion as some sort of attraction...chinese are even worse than the west when it comes to their interactions with the natural world...maybe even the worst

 

[rvy]

So... the cubs aren't going to kill the dog when they grow up, right? They'll just assume it's their mother and nobody will be able to fuck with momma dog?

 

[SpeedySwaf]

Awesome doggy mommy! I wonder if young baby animals can recognize their adoptive moms as they grow older...

I don't think it's entirely impossible...there was that story about the guy who took care of a lion while it was a cub, let it loose in the wild, and a year later the lion was still able to recognize him.

 

[NEO0MJ]

Are Ligers good fighters? I mean it's obvious they trump all in size, but that also I assume could be a weakness since they need to be quick as well, and lion/tiger strikes are fast.

That's an intresting thought. But because most of them are born in captivity they grow up as pussies and never learn how to fight.