Henry McGhie

Hello- it was definitely a tigon- offspring of a male tiger and female lion. Belle Vue had two in the late 30s and early 40s, and another in the 60s, they were called Maude and Kliou (brother and sister in the 30s and 40s) and Rita. Thanks for your reply, Henry ---------- Post added 07-04-2015 at 07:44 ---------- What a great story. It was a Tigon- offspring of a male Tiger and female Lion (if the father had been the lion, it would be a Liger- the male parent goes first in hybrid names). If it was in the late 40s it would have been Maude the Tigon. Her brother Kliou also lived at Bellevue, but died in 1942. Maude lived there until 1949.

Hello- I work at Manchester Museum where we have a number of animals that came from Belle Vue Zoo. Oliver East, a Manchester-based comic artist, is just about to start a recreation of the walk of Maharajah the Elephant from Edinburgh to Manchester. He sets off on the 8th April, follow #ElephantWalk on twitter. Also, I would be very, very interested to hear from anyone who remembers the Tigons at Belle Vue, especially those in the late 30s and 40s. All the best, Henry Head of Collections & Curator of Zoology, Manchester Museum