A 705-pound liger bred in the U.S. has been compared to a prehistoric saber-toothed tiger.
The five-year-old feline, named Apollo, is the hybrid offspring of a male lion and a female tiger.
Incredible images of animal conservationists Mike Holston and Kody Antle taking Apollo for a walk in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, put into perspective just how huge he is.
Some have compared him to the largest species of prehistoric saber-toothed tiger, which weighed up to 880 pounds.
Animal conservationists Mike Holston (left), who has the social media name the Real Tarzan, and Kody Antle pose with Apollo the liger in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Ligers are distinct from tigons – whose parents are a female lion and a male tiger – in that they typically grow bigger than either parent species.
The rare hybrids first emerged in 19th century India and are only found in captivity, as lions and tigers live separately in the wild. There are thought to be fewer than 1,000 in the world.
Ligers are the hybrid offspring of a male lion and a female tiger. They are different from tigons, whose parents are a female lion and a male tiger
Apollo and his three brothers (pictured) became the first white ligers in the world when they were born in December 2013
According to Guinness World Records, the record for the largest living cat belongs to Hercules, an adult male liger also living at Myrtle Beach Safari in South Carolina, who is also Apollo’s uncle.
Hercules weighs more than 900lbs and is 11 feet tall when standing on his hind legs. His daily meat consumption is around 20lbs of beef or chicken each day.
In the video, Mike says: ‘The question is, what would this thing eat? I believe it would eat everything in sight, anything in sight.
‘I think a pack of these things would take down a herd of elephants on the regular for a snack.
‘Such a majestic beast, and it can get up to 40 miles an hour in a couple of steps.’
Apollo has drawn admiration from Instagram users, with one commenting: ‘It’s “the lion king” from the real world’ and another adding
