Among the most bizarre are: liger, zebralo, grolar bear and wholphin. According to researchers, about 10% of animal species can interbreed with other species. Mixing can happen naturally or be stimulated by man. “Most of the hybrids were bred in captivity, even if on several occasions accidentally”, says biologist Roberto do Val Vilela, from the mammal sector at Fundação Parque Zoológico de São Paulo. Breeding hybrids is questioned and often considered unethical. “They are worthless animals from a conservationist point of view. They occupy enclosures that could be dispensed with for endangered species”, says veterinarian Nei Moreira, a professor at the Federal University of Paraná. Furthermore, hybrid animals are often sterile.
Check out the most bizarre combinations in this weird animal algebra
ZEBRA + HORSE = ZEBRALOMost often, the hybrid originates from a male zebra and a mare. In this case, the animal is also called a “zegua”. The crossing between these two horses, which can be both natural and manipulated, generates an animal stronger than the horse and with stripes all over the body or in areas such as the head or the back. It is rare, but there are also zebra hybrids and ass. They are known as “zebranos”
BEEF CATTLE + BUFFALO = BEEFALO
The first experiences started in the USA, but today beefalos already exist here in Brazil. The name comes from beef («meat» in English). The mixture generates an animal that is more resistant to cold and drought, and the meat has lower levels of fat and cholesterol. He is fertile and lives more than 20 years. To be a true beefalo, the animal must be 3/8 bison and 5/8 beef.
DOLPHIN + FALSE ORCA WHALE = WHOLPHIN
The term comes from the combination of whale and dolphin (“whale” and “dolphin”, in English). In 1985, at Sea Life Park in Hawaii, a female dolphin gave birth to an orca-like calf. The hybrid baby had intermediate characteristics – it was born with 66 teeth, the mother having 88 and the father 44. In addition, it is fertile and has already had three offspring
DROMEDARY + LLAMA = BED
Four pups were born by artificial insemination during a study carried out in the United Arab Emirates. They have the shell of a llama and the short ears and long tail of a dromedary (a type of camel), without the famous hump. Scientists have found that, as it is stronger than the llama and more docile than the camel, the camale can be a good pack animal.
LION + TITRISS = LIGER
He brings together characteristics of his father, a lion, and his mother, a tigress. From the king of the jungle, he inherits his mane and social behavior. From his mother, he gets stripes and swimming skills. He is big (he weighs twice as much as a lion, close to 1 ton), but he cannot have cubs. Mixing does not occur in nature, after all, most tigers live in Asia and lions in Africa.
LEOPARD + LIONESS = LEOPON
Mating between a leopard and a lioness rarely happens in the wild, but it is possible in captivity. The result is an animal with a lion’s head and a leopard’s body. The first reports of “leopon” are over a hundred years old. Few specimens lived to adulthood. Leopon is not fertile
MARINE IGUANA + LAND GUANA = HYBRID IGUANA
The mixture of a male marine iguana (genus Amblyrhynchus) with a female land iguana (genus Conolophus) on South Plaza Island, in the Galápagos Islands, gave rise to a hybrid with advantages. It has sharp claws and can both eat seaweed from submerged rocks and climb cacti, something the terrestrial cannot do.
SERVAL + CAT = CAT SAVANNAH
The large ears and fur markings reveal that this is no ordinary kitten. Savannah cats are a cross between the domestic cat and the serval, a wild African feline typical of the savannas. This animal can weigh up to 9 kilos and is popular for being tame and friendly. The first record of this hybrid is from 1986
GRIZZLY BEAR + POLAR BEAR = GROLAR BEAR
In 2006, in Canada, a hunter killed a bear, certain it was a polar bear. But he had brown spots, long claws and a kind of hump, characteristic of the grizzly bear. A DNA test proved that it was a hybrid of the two species. The two bears are believed to have had more than a single encounter.
SOURCES Roberto do Val Vilela, biologist in the mammal sector at Fundação Parque Zoológico de São Paulo; Nei Moreira, professor at the Federal University of Paraná; Mario de Vivo, zoologist at the Museum of Zoology at USP; The New York Times (www.nytimes.com); The Huffington Post (www.huffingtonpost.com); National Geographic (www.nationalgeographic.com); Time (www.time.com); Agrocave (www.agrocave.com.br); National Agricultural Library (www.nal.usda.gov); CNN (www.cnn.com); Veja magazine