NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



young, which develop into fine strong lions. Some- 

 times the cubs, when born, are taken away from the 

 mother and reared by a dog whose own puppies have 

 been destroyed, as it sometimes happens the mother 

 refuses to rear her cubs. At the Dublin Zoological 

 Gardens considerable numbers of lions are bred and 

 disposed of to various zoological gardens and men- 

 ageries. When I last visited that town, a lioness had 

 four sturdy cubs three months old. Another had 

 two a month old. 



It is possible to produce what are termed lion- 

 tiger hybrids by mating the lion and tiger. In the 

 wild state this is unheard of, although in some parts 

 of Asia lions and tigers are found in the same locali- 

 ties. Mr. Carl Hagenbeck succeeded in breeding a 

 lion-tiger hybrid which eventually attained a size 

 and weight equal to that of the largest lions known. 

 Its weight was 467 lbs. Its head and tail were lion- 

 like, but its body was more or less striped like that of 

 a tiger, and it had no mane. 



Two more were born of a lion father and a tigress 

 mother. They both took after the tigress, being 

 more tiger-like in shape and markings than the 

 lion. Several others have been born, some being 

 lion-like, others more like the tiger. These mules 

 or hybrids, however, are quite sterile, as is the 

 case with all mules. It is well that Nature has 

 ordained that this shall be so, for otherwise there 

 would soon be a mongrel race of wild animals on the 

 face of the earth. As it is, every species remains 



