Congolese Spotted Lion

A Congolese Spotted Lion or more correctly lijagulep is the hybrid of a leopard/jaguar cross (a jagulep or lepjag) with a lion. Several lijaguleps have been bred, but only one appears to have been exhibited as a Congolese Spotted Lion. It was most likely given that name by a showman because the public were more interested in exotic captured animals than in captive-bred hybrids.

Three jaguar x leopardess hybrids were bred at Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, USA. These were sold to a traveling menagerie. The male hybrid was killed by a lion. The females refused to mate with a leopard, but one female was mated to a lion and produced several litters. One of the offspring was exhibited in London in 1908 and was claimed to be a type of lion. It was the size of a lioness and had brown rosettes or spots. It is not noted whether the other lijagulep cubs survived to adulthood.

References

• CAW Guggisberg (1975) Wild Cats Of The World. Taplinger Pub Co. ISBN 0–8008–8324–1
• Helmut Hemmer: Report on a Hybrid Between Lion x Jaguar x Leopard – Panthera leo x Panthera onca x Panthera pardus (Saeugetierkundliche-Mitteilungen, 1968; 16(2): 179–182)
• Dr. Karl P N Shuker (1989) Mystery Cats of the World. Robert Hale: London. ISBN 0–7090–3706–6 page 173.

External links

• Sarah Hartwell, Hybrid Big Cats.