The world's largest 'cat', about the size of a saber-toothed tiger

This 705lb (320kg) liger is called Apollo, one of the largest ligers in the world, and it was almost the size of a prehistoric saber-toothed tiger.

Apollo is a hybrid of a male lion and a female tiger - hence the name liger . Ligers differ from tigons - those born to a female lion and a male tiger - because they tend to grow much larger than their parents. They are so large that they are comparable to prehistoric saber-toothed tigers.

Both ligers and tigons have defects as a result of human intervention. They are often born prematurely, and usually live no more than 12 weeks. Some live longer, but do not live more than 10 years (the average lifespan in the wild for tigers is 10-15 years, for lions is 10-12 years, and in captivity over 20 years) and often have problems such as neurological disabilities, arthritis, rickets, poor immune systems, depression, and infertility.

The earliest recorded history of lion-tiger hybridization dates back to the early 19th century in India. In fact, the two species of tiger and lion live separately in the wild, so hybrids are only found in captivity. Currently, there are fewer than 1,000 ligers in the world.

According to veterinary experts, liger is a hybrid between a male lion and a female tiger. This hybridization method is considered very unique and rare. The liger is known as the largest cat in the world, they have similar characteristics between lions and tigers. When reaching adulthood, liger will have a larger appearance than their parents. However, the species can only exist in an artificial environment because the habitat of lions and tigers is not the same as in the wild.

Even among hybrids, Apollo is considered a rarity. He and his three siblings are the world's first white female ligers, born to a white male lion and a white tigress in December 2013.

Back then, Apollo was the smallest of four in the litter and according to his owner, he behaved more like a kitten than a tiger or lion, purring and always asking to be petted.

The history of lion–tiger hybridization dates back at least to the early 19th century in India. In 1798, Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1772–1844) wrote descriptions of offspring of lions and tigers. The name "liger", a portmanteau of lion and tiger, was coined in the 1930s. Ligers have tiger-like stripes but are paler and are displayed on a light grayish-brown background. These stripes may be black, dark brown, or sand. The corresponding background color may be gray, sand, or yellow. Due to hormonal problems, ligers do not grow well into adulthood. They take a long time to reach full adult size. Continued growth in shoulder height and body length has not been documented in ligers over 6 years of age.

The liger is the largest living cat species on the planet. Genetic improvements may be responsible for its enormous size. These genes may or may not be present in the parents, but they play a role in the growth of the hybrid. For example, in some hybrid dogs, these genes help them grow faster than their parents. Such growth is not expressed in the parent breed because these genes are often "disabled" by genes passed on from the offspring of the breed. Some hybrids within the cat family can also reach similar sizes to the liger: the liger (litigon) is a rare hybrid between a male lion and a female liger, and a female liger named Cubanacan at the Alipore Zoo in India weighed 363 kg. Because of the rarity of these second-generation hybrids, it is difficult to determine whether the average liger is larger or smaller than the liger.

The saber-toothed tiger was one of the most ferocious predators on Earth during the Ice Age, 3 million to 10,000 years ago in the Americas. Possessing fangs up to 25cm long and sharp claws, the saber-toothed tiger was a fear to many animals living during this period.

The saber-toothed tiger began to go extinct around 10,000 BC. Currently, there are many hypotheses put forward by scientists about the cause of the extinction of the saber-toothed tiger.

Some scientists believe that the rise of prehistoric humans was the main cause. In addition, the end of the Ice Age reduced habitat, changed vegetation, and pushed the saber-toothed tiger to the brink of extinction.