Largest living mammal of the cat species

Meet the “big boy of the wild'' – Hercules the liger, who at the age of six stands 11.4 feet tall on his back legs and weighs an astonishing 950 pounds (431kgs) till date. Born to a male lion and a tigress, Hercules has featured in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest living mammal of the cat species in the world.

Born and raised in captivity at the Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (T.I.G.E.R.S.), Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA, Hercules loves to munch chicken, but on a given day he can devour more than 20 pounds (9kg) of meat, usually beef, and is also capable of eating over 100 pounds (45kg) at a single sitting.

“He [Hercules] loves chicken, rare for a big cat, but he eats beef and deer too when served,'' says Dr Bhagavan Antle, founder and director of T.I.G.E.R.S. in an e-mail to XPRESS. “And like all the big cats, Hercules enjoys his siesta and sleeps for more than 20 hours a day,'' says Dr Antle, who also runs the R.S.F. (Rare Species Fund).

Hercules lived with Dr Antle in his house till he was one year old. But as he grew in size, Dr Antle had to move him out to the reserve at Myrtle Beach. But Hercules is not alone: he has the company of his three brothers – Vulcan, Sinbad and Zuses – who all weigh over 900 pounds (409kg) each and are over 11 feet tall.

“A visitor can get up close and personal with the wild cats and even click pictures with them,'' says Dr Antle, who arranges guided tours. At the ‘Preservation Station', visitors can have photo sessions with the animals for $59 (Dh216) for the entire family or a group of five.

When asked what's the difference between a liger and a tigon (product of a male tiger and a female lion), Dr Antle says there is not much to differentiate between the two except ligers grow bigger than tigons.

T.I.G.E.R.S. also has the world's biggest crocodile: a crossbreed between a saltwater and a Thai croc that is 20 feet long and weighs 2,000 pounds (909kg).