Leopons are a hybrid
species of leopards and lions. A leopon is a result of a male leopard mating
with a female lion. These animals are very rare, and are mainly found in
Japansese zoos. The cubs have characteristics of both species. They were
liberally spotted like a leopard, but the spots were brown, rather than black.
Their tails were tufted. They were excellent climbers, scaling trees and the
chain link of their cage.
This leopard trait caused some minor difficulties for
the terrestrial lioness. The males grow a very small mane, unlike the ones of
the African lions. The cubs also loved swimming in water, and are excellent
swimmers. After the births the leopard remained with the group, somewhat
unusual for a big cat that is usually solitary apart from times of mating.
However, captivity has not only produced some unusual hybridisations, but has
also forced cats to adjust from a solitary lifestyle to a more social one.
As with ligers and
tigons, naturally occurring leopons are very rare, if they would occur at
all. The range of leopards and lions do not overlap, thus preventing the
natural mating of these animals. Leopards are larger than normal leopards, but
they still do not grow very large.
A Leopard is
hybrid resulting from the crossing of a male lepard 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. These hybrids are produced in captivity and
are unlikely to occur in the wild.
Description
A group of leopons.
The first
documented leopon was bred at Kolhapur, India in 1910. It was a cross
between a large leopard and a lioness. Two cubs were born, one of which died
aged 2.5 months and the other was still living when Pocock described it in
1912. Pocock wrote that it was spotted like a leopard, but that the spots on
its sides were smaller and closer set than those of an Indian leopard and were
brown and indistinct like the fading spots of a juvenile lion. The spots on the
head, spine, belly and legs were black and distinct. The tail was spotted on
the topside and striped underneath and had a blackish tip with longer hairs.
The underside was dirty white, the ears were fawn and had a broad black bar but
did not have the white spot found in leopards. Pocock wrote that the closest he
had previously seen to this type of hybrid was the lijagulep (Congolese Spotted
Lion) bred in Chicago.
Based on the data
from the Japanese cats, leopons are larger than leopards and combine features
from the leopard and lion. They have brown, rather than black, spots and tufted
tails. They will climb like leopards and seem to enjoy water, also like the
leopard. Male leopons may have sparse manes about 20 cm long.
They have been bred in zoos in
Japan, Germany and Italy (the latter was a "reverse leopon" i.e. from
a male lion and a leopardess). Karl Hagenbeck, who produced many different
hybrids, recorded the birth of leopons at the Hamburg Tierpark in Germany, but
none survived to maturity. A leopon skin and skull at the British Museum comes
from the animal bred at Kolhapur Zoo in India and was donated by Lt. Col. F.W.
Wodehouse of the Junior United Services sometime between 1920 and 1940.
The most successful leopon program was at Koshien Hanshin Park in Nishinomiya City, Japan. A lioness called Sonoko was mated by a leopard called Kaneo. The lioness voluntarily assumed a position on her side to allow the much smaller leopard to mount her. A litter of 2 hybrids was born in 1959 and 3 more were born in 1962. In captivity, the normally solitary male leopard remained with the family (social behavior is sometimes seen in captive specimens of normally solitary big cats). The hybrids proved to be sterile and the last one died in 1985. However, later leopons have successfully fathered cubs with liguars, hybrids between a male lion and a female jaguar. The resulting animal is called a leoliguar. The program of cross-breeding was popular with the public, but it was criticised in zoological and animal welfare circles.
