Liger Cubs Illegally Bred?

A male lion and a tigress produced Taiwan's first liger cubs in a private zoo in southern Taiwan.

Three ligers were born, but only two survived. The cubs' father is an African lion named Simba and their mother is a Bengal tigress named Beauty.

"Usually when a lion and a tiger are kept together, they will for sure attack each other to death, but these two have been spending time together since they were small," said Huang Kuo-nan, the zookeeper.

Kuo-nan is under investigation for illegally breeding the rare, protected animals. Kuo-nan denies that he forced the animals to mate.

Ligers can weigh almost 1,000 pounds in adulthood and can live up to 20 years old. Like most hybrids, they are unable to reproduce.