A leopon is a hybrid resulting from the crossing of a male leopard with a lioness.
Interestingly, The leopon has a head basically identical to a lion (though with spots) but the rest of its body looks the same as a leopard. It’s like if someone stuck the head of one animal on the body of another. The first documented leopon was naturally bred at Kolhapur, India in 1910.
Here are some interesting features about Leopon:
- Leopons are larger than leopards but of course smaller than lions.
- Like a leopard, they can climb a tree and also seem to enjoy the water.
- Male leopons have a sparse mane (about 20 cm long), a feature of the lion.
- Amazingly, female leopons are generally larger than male leopons.
- The body structure of leopon is like a lion but with spots on the body like a leopard.
Being a highly rare naturally occurring hybrid; it is known to have captively created at Koshien Hanshin Park in Nishinomiya City, Japan. A leopon was bred here that lived for 20 years, while average lifespan of leopards in captivity is only 13 years.
Thank you for reading, stay connected for more posts over the amazing hybrids found in nature. Also read: Lion x Tiger =Liger
The Dictionary of Science 