20 RARE AND REAL HYBRID ANIMALS - BIOLOGY - 2025

Some of the hybrid animals that we can find in nature are the jagleón, the pumapardo, the zubrón, the grolar bear, the parakeet fish or the balfin, all of them with special characteristics and very difficult to find.

And it is that, although in literature and fantasy films we have always been told about hybrid beasts such as chimeras, unicorns, satyrs, centaurs, pegasi or mermaids, in the real world we can also find some fascinating animals that most of us are unaware of. In fact, some beings are the result of human experimentation.

Jason douglas

List of real hybrid animals

Jagleón

This creature is the result of the cross between a lioness and a male jaguar. This species does not occur in the wild, since its parents belong to different ecosystems.

It looks a lot like a lion physically, although it has some spots all over its body. To date, there are no records of male specimens with manes.

The two best known jagleons were called Tsunami and Jazhara. The first is male, golden with pale spots. The second is female and black with dark spots.

Tigon

The tigon is a cross between a lioness and a tiger. It is only born in captivity, since the races of its parents do not share habitat in nature. Look like a lion with tiger stripes. They are characterized by being really imposing, since they have strong and long legs and a huge tail.

Interestingly, it is smaller than its parents, because they inherit the genes that reduce growth in lionesses. However, they do not have any type of dwarfism, and can weigh around 180 kg.

Leopon

This species occurs when a lioness and a leopard cross. Its head resembles that of a lion, while the rest of its body resembles that of a leopard.

With regard to its dimensions, it is larger than leopards and also has diffuse brown spots. Interestingly, the males have a small mane of 20 cm in length.

Thanks to their father's genes, they often climb trees and enjoy the water. For their part, some females are solitary, while others enjoy living in herds.

Liger

This creature is the result of the cross between a tigress and a lion. It is considered the largest feline in the world. There are records of cases in which the liger has reached four meters and weigh 400 kilograms.

It has an orange to yellow coat and its appearance is basically that of a lion with fuzzy tiger stripes. Unlike the tigon, male ligers do develop a mane.

This species inherits its love for water from tigers. They also have a sociable and calm demeanor thanks to the lion gene.

The zebra is obtained from the cross between a female donkey and a male zebra. Unlike the aforementioned felines, this animal can be found in a wild habitat in South Africa.

Interestingly, the famous biologist Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882) recorded four color illustrations of hybrids between donkey and zebra, in his book The Origin of Species.

There was a time when a zoo on the African continent was trying to create a zebra that was resistant to diseases, all with the purpose of improving the work of cultivation and loading on farms.

Grolar bear

The grolar is an animal that is born as a result of a cross between a polar bear and a brown bear. Although these creatures tend to be avoided, grolars have been recorded both in the wild and in captivity.

Its personality and behavior is very similar to that of the polar bear, although it also inherits its fur from this species. However, it also has some brownish touches. As for its size, it has intermediate dimensions between both species.

Bed

By joining a llama and a dromedaries we can get the bed. This animal is the product of a study carried out among a group of scientists, who analyzed the close relationship between both species.

As you can see, the Arabian camel is six times bigger than a llama. For this reason, an artificial insemination was necessary.

The end result was a hybrid smaller than a llama. In addition, it is characterized by having short ears and a long camel tail. This specimen does not have a cleft in the legs similar to its father and does not have a hump.

Coydog

This animal is born from the cross between a domestic dog and a coyote. In general, their appearance is more like that of a dog. Unlike many hybrid animals, this specimen is capable of having offspring.

Unfortunately, it has been proven that after three generations of reproduction among hybrids, there is a high probability of genetic diseases, decreased fertility and communication problems. For this reason, the protection of wild coydogs is very problematic due to their multiple genetic mutations.

Dzo

This creature is the result of the cross between a cow and a yak. Although there are cases that use the genera of this species in reverse. As with many hybrid species, the females are fertile but the males are sterile.

The Dzo is a stronger animal than cattle, which makes it very common in agricultural tasks in areas such as Nepal, Bhutan and Mongolia. Even their meat is considered superior. Its body shape resembles that of a cow, although its fur is very long like that of a yak.

Pumapardo

In this case there is a cross between a leopard and a male cougar. For obvious distribution reasons, pumapards do not occur in the wild, and it is very rare that they occur in captivity.

The first specimens were born during the late 19th century. At that time, several zoos in European cities experimented with feline crosses. However, the species was soon considered uninteresting.

Regarding its appearance, it looks like a puma, being elongated and grayish, but it also has leopard spots. It tends to be small and with short legs.

Parakeet fish

Perico is the result of the cross between two Central American fish. Although its origin is very uncertain, it is only known that it was created by man. For this reason, there are no specimens in nature, that is, it does not have a natural habitat.

Regarding its physical characteristics, it is an oval fish with a deformity between its head and the dorsal fin. It is a very curious and social species, although it can be very temperamental due to its genes from the cichlid family of fish. It tends to stay at the bottom of the sea, although this behavior can vary.

Zubron

Result of the cross between a domestic cattle and a European bison. Although it may have been born naturally, its origin dates back to scientific experiments carried out in Poland at the end of the First World War.

At that time they thought that the zubrón could be a possible replacement for domestic cattle. After all, this animal turned out to be more resistant and less susceptible to disease.

With regard to its physical characteristics, the zubrón is heavier than most of the cattle. Males reach 1200 kg, while females exceed 810.

Cabreja

This species is born by uniting is a female sheep and a male dwarf goat. Due to genetic differences, this hybrid does not usually exceed embryonic development. The most famous specimen is called Butterfly and it was born on July 27, 2016. Since then, it has been in a zoo in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Regarding her physical characteristics, Butterfly possesses her father's hooves and face. While her body is covered in a thick wool coat like her mother. Its name is due to the spots that it presents along its body.

Cebrallo

This animal is a cross between a mare and a male zebra. Its appearance is very close to that of a small horse, but along its legs, back and neck you can see stripes that overlap its background color.

Regarding their personality, they largely inherit the wild temperament of their parents. In fact, although they are not very large, zebrallos are extremely strong and aggressive.

Caraval

This creature is the result of the cross between a female serval and a male caracal. Said hybrid is bred for the pet market. These cats are fertile and can breed with their parent species.

With regard to their physical characteristics, caravans have a pattern of spots similar to servals. However, the bottom of its fur is darker. There is also a counterpart, which is called Servical. In this case, the cross is between a male serval and a female caracal.

Savannah

If a serval cat and a house cat breed, we get the Savannah. They are known for their loyalty and because they will always feel like the owners of the house. However, that's not all, as they can also be trained to walk on a leash just like a dog.

This hybrid is characterized by having a tall and thin structure, being for this reason that it is considered the largest domestic cat breed. With regard to its fur, it has spotted patterns with color combinations very similar to the serval.

Yakalo

Cross between a yak and an American bison. Although this hybrid is the product of selective breeding, its existence is really strange, being only traceable in areas like Alberta, Canada. In fact, in that place it is called "alternative cattle." After all, the farmers of this territory prefer them to produce meat or milk; because they support winter with lots of snow better than other cattle.

Bengal

Hybrid animal between a leopard cat and an Egyptian Mau. It was developed to imitate the fur of wild and exotic cats such as leopards, ocelots or margays.

Regarding their physical characteristics, they are muscular and robust and have a large size, weighing up to 9 kilograms. Its tail is thick and of medium size and its hair is usually flattened on the body. Also note that its coat is extremely soft and thick, while delicate.

Beefalo

This species is the result of the cross between a domestic cow and an American bison. This hybrid has represented many advantages in livestock, among which its low level of calories, fat and cholesterol in its meat stand out. In addition, it has greater resistance to extreme climates. Even their delivery is less laborious compared to other bovine breeds.

With regard to its physical appearance, it varies a little depending on the breed of cattle with which the bison has been crossed, although in general it tends to resemble that of a very stout bull or cow with thick fur.

Balfin

This creature is the result of the cross between a bottlenose dolphin and a false killer whale. Only one case of this hybridization has occurred in captivity, since their parents shared a pool in an animal enclosure in Hawaii.

The specimen is called Kekaimalu and it had three offspring with a bottlenose dolphin. With respect to its physical appearance, its size, color and shape is intermediate between the species of its parents.