What are your thoughts on cross breeding? Seems to me that there has been much too much time and effort put into trying to create species of different colours etc., Many bird species are now difficult to find in their natural colours, especially parrots. Many mammals have been crossed, eg lions and tigers, and seems to me to be without any reasonable purpose. How can you improve on the beauty of a Turquoise parrot?? Etc., etc..
i think its fine as long as you don't release them and you don't really force he animal to hybridize, and also, male guppies get obsessed over bigger fish like mollies
My knowledge of fish is almost zero! But-- I still don't think that producing hybrids or mules etc,. is a good idea.
Technically, white tigers are a recessive mutation of the Bengal Tiger, although how hybridised are most Bengal tigers in zoo is a common point of contention. The melanistic jaguar is actually believed to be dominant over the recessive golden jaguar. Most people assume it's the other way around as the golden jaguar is more commonly illustrated in books etc. (to show the difference in spots to a leoard or cheetah for example).
The most obvious cross breeding (although domestic dogs are all one species), is the breeding of purebred poodles with various other dog breeds. Poodles are highly intelligent and hypoallegenic dogs, but families want a dog the guys won't be embarassed to be seen with, so cross it with a labrador or golden retirever and you get their looks, combined with the benefits of a poodle.
@Terry Thomas You posted this under the forum for pets and private collections. Tigers (white or otherwise) would mostly be considered zoo animals, not pets (yes I realize some eccentric people do have pet tigers, but it's not the norm). Do you mean to keep this discussion centered on pets or small animals likely held by private individuals? Or do you mean to include larger animals typically found in zoos, in which case I can move this thread to general zoo discussion?
No, I just brang up tigers in an example of some hybrids I hate. The point I think was talking about hybridizing pet animals.
Actually I had birds in mind, more than mammals. There have been so many variations of colours that there are several captive species that are now difficult to find in their natural colours. EG Neophemas and cockatiels.
Shouldn't the title be Crossbreeding instead of Cross breeding, as it is not about the breeding of crosses?
I think the major problem with cross breeding birds is that natural colour variants sometimes become rarer than certain colour morphs.
Not sure if this thread is getting a bit muddled, but the various colours in Cockatiels are not due to hybridising, as you can't produce a fertile hybrid from a Cockatiel. The only Cockatiel hybrid recorded (as far as I know) is with a Galah, and I'm pretty sure that hybrid individual would be infertile. However, there is a real issue with Lovebirds and the Rosella group, where species have been crossed to 'transfer' colour mutations. Less of a problem with Grass Parrakeets, as interspecific Neophema hybrids are usually infertile. I would agree it's undesirable to lose pure wild type stocks of birds in aviculture, partly because they may be needed to restocking wild areas in the future, but also because few mutations are as attractive as their wild type ancestor. The real danger, though, is damaging bloodlines by indiscriminate interspecies hybridising.
Sorry if I implied that cockatiels or neophemas have hybidised. Simply meant colour variations. Here, in Australia, I believe that aviculturists that are looking for natural wild type colours are finding it difficult, as there have been so many trying to get various mutations. An ongoing problem for many years. Never heard of a hybrid cockatiel before.
