Khonorik

We've talked about a few different Hybrid animals in the past, and most of those are creatures that are completely man-made-- they would never hybridize in the wild. Today's animal is a bit different in that it can and has crossed before in wild conditions (though it is still rare to do so).

Khonoriks are crosses between European Mink and European Polecats. The only meet up in the wild in parts of Europe that have declining Mink populations. There is evidence of this happening at the turn of the 20th century, when warmer climates caused the Polecats to enter Mink ranges.

In 1978 the first captive bred Khonoriks were bred, by Dr. Dmitry Ternovsky in the Soviet Union. The fur produced by the hybrids was more valuable than that of the two parent species, but the breeding projects declined when Mink populations did, and are now more or less defunct.

Khonoriks are are roughly the same size as European Polecats, the larger of the two parent species. They have dark fur with pale ear tips, and blotchy facial masks. Additionally, they have the ability to swim (like Minks) and burrow (like Polecats), which lets them have a wide-ranging diet. As with most hybrids, the males are sterile though the females can be fertile.

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Status : Hybrid
Location : Europe
Size : Length up to 18in (45cm)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Carnivora
Family : Mustelidae -- Genus : Mustela -- Species : M. putorius x M. lutreola

Image : Ferret Center

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Dzo

Dzo

Dzo is the Tibetan name for hybrid creatures that are the cross between Yaks and domesticated Cattle. The name technically refers to only the male crosses (females are reffered to as Dzomo), but for the sake of ease we'll use Dzo today for a general term.

Dzo are used as pack animals in Tibet and other mountainous regions because they can survive at high elevations as well as Yaks do, but have more strength and size due to the Cattle ancestry. In general, these hybrids have the faces of Cattle, but the shaggy coats of Yaks.

As with many hybrids, a downside to the Dzo is that the males are sterile. Females are not always sterile though, which means that the animals can be bred back to other Cattle and Yaks, creating 3/4 crosses. It is speculated that many supposed purebred Yaks and Cattle actually have genes from the other species, due to this ability to back-cross.

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Status : Hybrid
Location : Asia
Size : Weight around 1,300lbs (580kg)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Artiodactyla
Family : Bovidae -- Genus : Bos -- Species : B. grunniens × B. primigenius

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Zubron

Zubron

Meet the Zubron, a hybrid creature that is the result of crosses between European Bison (Wisent) and Cattle. Think "Beefalo" but with a longer history and a slightly different Bison in the mix.

The first Zubron dates all the way back to 1847, when a Polish man named Leopold Walicki created crosses between male Wisent and female Cattle. The result was a hardy animal that was less susceptible to disease. Other benefits? Zubron would graze on less desirable tracts of land that didn't need a huge farm infrastructure. They also required far less human interaction. Downsides? First generation males were infertile, though the females weren't. So a female Zubron could be bred back to either Cattle or Wisent, creating fertile male offspring.

Zubron breeding continued through the 19th century and into the 20th. By 1958 the work was taken on by the Polish Academy of Sciences, and several dozen animals were born in those first few years. In 1969 a contest was held by the newspaper Przekroj, and the name Zubron was chosen for the hybrids.

By the late 1980s, however, the results of the crosses were no longer considered desirable and state farms were losing interest. There was also fear that the hybrids would contaminate the gene pools of the purebred Wisent, a Vulnerable species.

There are a few Zubron left now in Bialowieski National Park, and there is still some work being done to create the hybrids, but on a far more limited scale.

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Status : Hybrid
Location : Developed in Poland
Size : Weight up to 2,600lbs (1,200kg)

Classification : Bos taurus × Bison bonasus

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Wholphin

Wholphin

I'm sure you've heard of hybrids like Ligers and Mules, but what about Wholphins? They are the result of crosses between two ocean-dwelling mammals- Bottlenose Dolphins and False Killer Whales. I should note, however, that the False Killer Whales (like regular Killer Whales) are members of the Oceanic Dolphin family along with the Bottlenoses, so the relationship isn't as far off as one might think.

While this hybrid might appear in the wild, we only know of them definitively from two individuals living at Sea Life Park in Hawaii. Back in 1985 a female Bottlenose and a male False Killer Whale lived in the same tank, and were performers in the park's aquatic show. No one expected the 14ft Whale and 6ft Dolphin to mate, but the surprise result was Kekaimalu. She herself actually gave birth to a 3/4 Bottlenose offspring in 2005 (She had two previous calves, one died shortly after birth, and one lived till the age of 9). That makes Kekaimalu and Kawili Kai the only known captive Wholphins in the world.

Wholphins are interesting because they area true mix of the species. They grow to a size somewhere in between that of the two species (Kekaimalu's calf was the size of a 1-year-old Bottlenose when she was but 1 month old!). They have an intermediate gray color, and their teeth also fall right down the middle- False Killer Whales have 44, Bottlenose Dolphins have 88, but Kekaimalu has 66!

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IUCN Status : Not Listed

Location : Hawaii

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Cetacea
Family : Delphinidae -- Genus : Pseudorca, Tursiops

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Liger

Liger

Oh the controversial Liger! This Hybrid cross between a male lion and a female tiger is both infamous and condemned. There have been records of these strange creatures dating back over 200 years.

Ligers are the largest of all cats, due to the specific genetics involved in the cross. (It is not, as many claim, a hormonal issues). The largest individual, Hercules, weighs over 900lbs.

Ligers do not appear in the wild. The two species for the most part live in completely separate continents. Most Zoos frown upon the creation of Ligers and hybrids, as they have no conservation purpose, take up a great deal of space, and results in unfit offspring. It is also considered by many to be a simple commercial ploy.

Male Ligers are always sterile, but there is the possibility for females to be fertile. In those cases, it is possible to breed that females to pure tiger and lion males, creating a whole new line of hybrids. But, once again, frowned upon.

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IUCN Status : Not Listed

Location : Only created in Captivity

Size : Length up to 11ft, weight up to 900lbs

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Carnivora
Family : Felidae -- Genus : Panthera --  Species : leo crossed with  tigris

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Beefalo

Today's animal is a bit... different. It's a hybrid, an animal that is a cross of two separate species. In this case we have American Bison and domesticated beef cattle. Efforts to combine the best qualities of the two have gone back decades and decades. Charles Jesse "Buffalo" Jones, dismayed at the loss of so many cattle to the harsh weather of Kansas, decided to raise Bison and attempted to produce hybrids which he called "cattalo." Unfortunately, his project didn't' work out too well, and it wasn't until the 1960's that Beefalo really began to take off.

Image from Beefalo Australia

Beefalo are not actually a 50/50 cross. They are instead closer to 5/8 Cattle, and 3/8 Bison. Crosses that contain more Bison than that are referred to as Bison hybrids. Beefalo are fertile hybrids. They are more weather tolerant, calve easier, forage better, have a longer lifespan, and provide leaner beef due to the Bison influence, and provide more milk and are easier to handle due to the Cattle side. The American Beefalo Association oversees the registration of these hybrids.

One downside to this, and I suppose to the entire western ranching industry, is that the wild Bison herds have become genetically polluted over the decades. Many of the wild Bison have Cattle DNA in them, and could actually be termed hybrids themselves because of it. This is due to the general land overlap between the ranches and Bison ranges, and due to the fast recovery of the Bison in the last few decades, after they were nearly driven to extinction.

Thanks to Ashley for the suggestion!

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