Panthera Hybrid - Leopard and Lion Hybrids

Leopard and Lion Hybrids

A leopon is the result of breeding a male leopard with a lioness. The head of the animal is similar to that of a lion, while the rest of the body carries similarities to leopards. Leopons are very rare.

A lipard or liard is the proper term for a hybrid of a male lion with a leopardess. It is sometimes known as a reverse leopon. The size difference between a male lion and a leopardess usually makes their mating difficult.

A lipard was born in Schoenbrunn Zoo, Vienna in 1951. The father was a two-year-old, 250-kg lion, 1.08 m tall at the shoulders and 1.8 m long (excluding tail). The mother was a 3.5-year-old leopardess weighing only 38 kg. The female cub was born overnight on 26/27 August 1982 after 92–93 days of gestation. The mother began to over-groom the cub and later bit off its tail. The cub was then hand-reared. The parents mated again in November 1982, and the leopardess appeared pregnant,but the lion continued to mate her and they had to be kept apart.

Another lipard was born in Florence, Italy (it is often erroneously referred to as a leopon). It was born on the grounds of a paper mill near Florence to a lion and leopardess acquired from a Rome zoo. Their owner had two tigers, two lions and a leopardess as pets, and did not expect or intend them to breed. The lion/leopard hybrid cub came as a surprise to the owner, who originally thought the small, spotted creature in the cage was a stray domestic cat. The cub had the body conformation of a lion cub with a large head (a lion trait), but a receding forehead (a leopard trait), fawn fur and thick, brown spotting. When it reached five months old, the owner offered it for sale and set about trying to breed more.

The male leopon is a fertile offspring of a male leopard and a female lion. The fertile female liguar, offspring of a female jaguar and male lion, is capable of fertilization by a leopon. Their mating, though rare, results in a leoligulor.