Lions and Tigers and Ligers, Oh My

Apparently the Amman Zoo hopes that their tiger and lion will mate. Eep. Their baby would be a liger. According to the Sierra Safari:

A liger is the result of breeding a male lion with a female tiger. It has stripes and spots; the spots are inherited from the lion parent even though adult lions do not appear to be spotted. All ligers are presumed to be born sterile. This is not unusual for hybrids. Mules are the result of breeding a horse with a donkey and are also presumed to be sterile, although there is an occasional, extremely rare, exception.

Gothamist, while a fan of strange animals, is a little freaked out by some of these animals hybrids. And even though we understand the zoo wants to raise attendance, can't they do that with a regular cute baby lion or tiger cub?