Rare baby liger in E China
2012-01-18 05:38:15 GMT2012-01-18 13:38:15(Beijing Time)
China Daily
Five-month-old baby liger Xinle (happy heart) plays at Ningbo Youngor Zoo in East China's Zhejiang province, Jan 17, 2012. [Photo/CFP]
Five-month-old baby liger Xinle (happy heart) stares at the camera at Ningbo Youngor Zoo in East China's Zhejiang province, Jan 17, 2012. [Photo/CFP]
A close-up of the five-month-old baby liger Xinle (happy heart) at Ningbo Youngor Zoo in East China's Zhejiang province, Jan 17, 2012. [Photo/CFP]
Five-month-old baby liger Xinle (happy heart) plays with a zoo worker at Ningbo Youngor Zoo in East China's Zhejiang province, Jan 17, 2012. [Photo/CFP]
Five-month-old baby liger Xinle (happy heart) plays with a zoo worker at Ningbo Youngor Zoo in East China's Zhejiang province, Jan 17, 2012. [Photo/CFP]
Five-month-old baby liger Xinle (happy heart) walks around his enclosure at Ningbo Youngor Zoo in East China's Zhejiang province, Jan 17, 2012. [Photo/CFP]
As a rare hybrid offspring of a male lion and a female tiger, Xinle has the head and tail of a tiger and the body of a lion.
Although tigers and lions may cross-breed, the chance of a successful pregnancy is only 1 to 2 percent, and the survival rate for a baby liger is just one out of half a million. It's estimated that there are only 20 ligers alive in the world.
