[FEL-L] Hybrid Lions Article

[Tim Stoffel]

On Tue, 2006-09-19 at 10:27 -0500, Lynn Culver wrote:

> 
> Hasn't anybody ever heard of the term hybrid-vigor?  Used in reference to 
> plants all the time. Diversity helps and diverse living organisms are more 
> vigorous.
> 
> If the African lions were genetically diverse,  and a closely related 
> sub-species, their genes should have helped the Asian lions. If the felines 
> used to augment the gene pool were themselves carriers of genetic defects, 
> they would harm the Asian lions. My question is, with was the  status of the 
> African lions they used?

For some reason, everything I have read about the hybrid Asiatic/African
lions suggests that hybrid vigor did not work in these cases. This is
not to say that it can't. Your question about the founder animals is a
valid one, and I have no information on that.

In the case of Hobbs our liger, there is definitely signs of hybrid
vigor. Hobbs is 14 years old now, and has never had a serious health
problem.

Tim Stoffel