As Earth has encountered many different changes - a warming planet, environmental erosion, and loss of species - animals are trying to adapt. And one way they do that is through crossbreeding.
How does crossbreeding work? It's the strengthening of the genes of one animal by breeding with a stronger mate of another animal. Sometimes, these strange animal mating partners are a result of nature, and other times, they're a human-made match. While these crazy animal crossbreeds may look beautiful, there is one thing many of these exotic animal hybrids suffer from. Many crossbreed animals are born sterile.
Some exotic crossbreeds are created because of human intervention and methods of selective breeding. Crossbreeding can only occur with animals that belong to the same families or subfamilies. Only one particular type of crossed animals, such as the geep (a goat-sheep mix), are from entirely different classes. These kinds of animals are not genetic hybrids but instead referred to as genetic chimeras. Amazing right? Check out more interesting and strange crossbreed animals you probably didn’t know were real.
The zonkey is a cross between a male zebra and a female donkey that belongs to a class of various zebra hybrids called zebroids. Although most zebroids are sterile, zebra hybrids have been reproduced since the 19th century. They were first bred for transporting and hauling weaponry but later were bred for exotic riding mounts.
The main reason zebras were chosen to cross with purebred equines was to create a mount that posed a higher level of immunity and resistance against disease.
In early 2020, a zonkey was born at the Chyulu Hills National Park in Kenya. Caregivers rescued the impregnated zebra and brought her to the national park, where she surprised everyone by giving birth to the mule.
The Grolar Bear Is A Breed Established Thanks To Global Warming
The grolar bear, also known as the pizzly bear, is a cross between a polar bear and a brown grizzly bear. The first scientific verification of grolar bears was confirmed in the wild after DNA tests revealed both species were breeding together, producing the hybrid bear. Since then, the hybrid has been bred successfully in captivity for zoos. While these animals are pretty cool looking, the reason they started crossbreeding in the first place is actually really sad.
These bears bred out of desperation, thanks to climate change destroying their habitats. This new breed causes polar bears and grizzly bears to invade each others' territory during the breeding season because resources are scarce.
Jaglions Sometime Occur In The Wild - But Are Usually Bred By Exotic Pet Owners
The jaglion is a cross between a male jaguar and a female lion, which both belong to the genus class known as panthera. Most panthera hybrid males are infertile, giving them little chance of surviving in the wild. While some of these hybrids were bred by human selection, historic research reveals these hybrids sometimes occurred naturally in the wild.
Most jaglions are selectively bred for exotic pet purposes. However, there are some cases where unintended breedings have successfully occurred within sanctuaries.
Coywolves Are Taking Over The United States
Photo: L. David Mech mail, Bruce W. Christensen, Cheryl S. Asa, Margaret Callahan, Julie K. Young / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA 3.0
The coywolf is a cross between a male wolf and a female coyote that belongs to the canid hybrid class. Coywolves produce naturally in the wild. The reason these species crossed is said to have stemmed from habitat changes and a decrease in space. One fortunate aspect of this crossbreed combination is that this hybrid is known to be fertile, so they are highly suitable to survive in the wild. These hybrids tend to be larger than coyotes and look less like wolves.
These creatures are becoming so prevalent, some groups worry their genetic makeup is diluting that of real wolves. Researchers are trying to sterilize wild coyotes to stop them from breeding with endangered species of wolves, hoping this will increase the population of pure wolves in the United States.
If you’ve watched the film Napoleon Dynamite, you've probably heard of the liger. Yes, ligers are real! Belonging to panthera subfamilies, ligers are a cross between a male lion and a female tiger. These hybrids date back to the early 19th century of India, bred for their beauty, strength, and size. In fact, the liger is among one of the largest living big cats in the world, some reaching weights of over 900 pounds and measuring 10 feet long.
Ligers share many characteristics of tigers, mainly that they are more sociable and enjoy water. Most ligers are known to be fertile, as some have breed naturally under unintentional circumstances.
The wholphin is a rare hybrid belonging to the oceanic dolphin family. This hybrid is created by crossing a female bottlenose dolphin and a male false killer whale. This hybrid is extremely rare and usually born in captivity. The first known wholphin was named Kekaimalu. She was born in Hawaii in 1985.
Wholphin offspring can successfully breed with other members within the oceanic dolphin gene pool, though most wholphins in the wild are sterile. A noticeable characteristic about these hybrids is they are smaller than the bottlenose but larger than the false killer whale.
