For us animal lovers, hybrids can be both a sense of fascination and dread, as sometimes things just really aren’t meant to happen that way!
Knowledge of hybrids became more widespread and popular thanks to Napolean Dynamite and the Liger, but what are some of the lesser known animals that aren’t too common in nature either? Well here are twenty of the weirdest animal combinations we’ve found so far, but you’re always welcome to tell us of another strange one we may have missed!
20. Grizzly Bear + Polar Bear = Grolar Bear
Also known as a Pizzly Bear, these beasts have been birthed in captivity as well as found in the wild; the latter only being discovered recently in 2006! While many theories now exist as to why these bear hybrids can be found in nature (since polar bears and grizzlies have a lot less in common than you might think), it’s entirely possible that they’ve always randomly occurred in nature; however without proper DNA testing we will never really know for sure. Another popular theory is due to climate change, which is also entirely possible.
19. Male Camel + Female Llama = Cama
The first cama was born at the Camel Research Centre in Dubai on January 14, 1998 in an attempt to breed an animal as sturdy in the location as a camel while still producing enough furs for the nights like a llama (as well as the llama’s temperament. Since this particular hybrid was bred using a male camel and a female llama, artificial insemination was used to ensure no animals were harmed in the… attempt.
18. Male Leopard + Female Lion = Leopon
By far my own personal favorite hybrid the Leopon is what you get when you breed a male leopard with a lioness, however like most other hybrids these animals are generally born with an array of health issues – which saddens me. What makes them the best looking is simple; it’s a lion head on a leopards body with a mane. Now what little boy wouldn’t dream of seeing something like that in their day?
17. Zebra + Donkey = Zonkey
As the name would suggest (like most other Zebroids and Zorses the name is pretty straightforward here as well, you’ll see what I mean later on) this is a mix between a donkey and a zebra. The latest Zonkey coming to us from Crimea, where little baby Telegraph was born in the Taigan Zoo in Simferopol. Although little Telegraph is cute, he wasn’t quite planned either as the zoo’s officials had only put a depressed zebra with other four legged animals… life finds a way.
16. Goat + Sheep = Geep
Also known as a shoat, this is what you get when you mix a goat with a sheep; as the name implies. While the parents seem similar they’re truly not, belonging in different genera and carrying a total difference of 6 chromosomes; which is a massive amount when speaking of anything that small! Because of this difference most of these hybrid babies are born stillborn, never making to their first steps. This is one of those odd hybrids that doesn’t need to be bred simply for the quality of life it would get, if it got one.
15. Male Jaguar + Female Lion = Jaglion
These are Jahzara and Tsunami, two jaglion cubs who were unexpectedly born at the Bear Creek Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary in Ontario, Canada. Born brother and sister to father Diablo (the jaguar) and mother Lola (the lioness) these two share traits from both families and even have two different color schemes! The darker one is Jahzara, and she is inherited her melanism gene from her father; whereas Tsunami kept his mother’s golden hue.
