The rediscovered photograph of Cubanacan the litigon, seen here fully grown (© Alipore Zoo, reproduction
courtesy of Dr Ashish
Kumar Samanta and Ms Piyali Chattopadhyay Sinha, respectively the Director and
the Deputy Director of Alipore Zoo, Kolkata)
On 22 May 2017, I brought to the attention of celebrated Indian naturalist
Shubhobroto S. Ghosh – currently Wildlife Project Manager of World Animal Protection in India – a colour photograph hitherto deemed
long-lost that depicts a truly extraordinary hybrid big cat. The cat in
question is Cubanacan, a male litigon (or li-tigon), i.e. the progeny of a lion
and a female tigon (tiger x lioness hybrid), shown fully grown in the rediscovered photo. He was born at Alipore Zoo in
Kolkata, India, on 6 March 1979, and was the only surviving cub of his litter
of three. On display at the zoo throughout the 1980s, he died on 12 April 1991.
In his prime, Cubanacan was once the world’s largest big cat in captivity, who, according to an entry in the 1985 edition of the Guinness Book of Records, weighed 363 kg (800 lb), stood 1.32 m (4 ft 4 in) at the shoulder, and measured 3.5 m (11.5 ft) in length. Moreover, it was in that particular edition that I had rediscovered the photograph (credited there to Calcutta Zoo, i.e. Alipore Zoo), whose reproduction in it had apparently not been known about by other researchers seeking any existing Cubanacan images (this may be due to the photo seemingly appearing only in this one edition, for 1985, not in any of those for earlier or later years), and which was not even present in the archives of its originator, Alipore Zoo.
In his prime, Cubanacan was once the world’s largest big cat in captivity, who, according to an entry in the 1985 edition of the Guinness Book of Records, weighed 363 kg (800 lb), stood 1.32 m (4 ft 4 in) at the shoulder, and measured 3.5 m (11.5 ft) in length. Moreover, it was in that particular edition that I had rediscovered the photograph (credited there to Calcutta Zoo, i.e. Alipore Zoo), whose reproduction in it had apparently not been known about by other researchers seeking any existing Cubanacan images (this may be due to the photo seemingly appearing only in this one edition, for 1985, not in any of those for earlier or later years), and which was not even present in the archives of its originator, Alipore Zoo.
Given the present-day aversion to hybridisation occurring in captivity, and
the ban imposed in 1985 on crossbreeding big cats in India, it appears that
Cubanacan’s memory was purposely forgotten. Yet the hybridisation debate in
biology is important. So too is the current proposal on banning big cat
hybridisation in the USA. Consequently, it is in the light of such controversies
that this rediscovered photograph of Cubanacan has now been preserved for
posterity as a valuable item in wildlife history, best viewed without value
judgement, by having been included within a major new photo story article* published online by Nature India (please
click here to read it). Authored by
myself and Shubhobroto, it constitutes both the most comprehensive and the most
extensively-illustrated account of Cubanacan's history ever produced.
Photograph of Cubanacan the litigon snapped when he was just one year old, in The Statesman,
Calcutta (now Kolkata), 12 March 1980 (© The Statesman, Calcutta (now
Kolkata), reproduced here on a strictly educational, non-commercial Fair Use
basis only)
Hope yet for the alleged missing thunderbird photograph (click here to read all about it)? Further proof at least that long-lost photos of unusual animals CAN be rediscovered (also, click here to read about my part in rediscovering the long-overlooked Trunko photographs).
Cubanacan, together with a vast diversity of other fascinating feline hybrids, including ligers, pumapards (also click here), leopons (also click here), titigons, liligers, jaguleps, litards, pantigs (click also here), servicals (click also here), and even an extraordinary three-species hybrid dubbed a lijagupard, also features in my book Cats of Magic, Mythology, and Mystery.
Cubanacan, together with a vast diversity of other fascinating feline hybrids, including ligers, pumapards (also click here), leopons (also click here), titigons, liligers, jaguleps, litards, pantigs (click also here), servicals (click also here), and even an extraordinary three-species hybrid dubbed a lijagupard, also features in my book Cats of Magic, Mythology, and Mystery.
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Thanks for the wonderful article. I have seen this beautiful animal LITIGON.
ReplyDeleteLITIGON was extremely big and was quite astonishing to watch.
I wish to see the species back once again.