leopon, n. Zool.
(ˈlɛpən)
[f. leopard n. + lion n.]
An animal born of a mating between a leopard and a lion. Cf. liger n., tigon n.
| 1960 Internat. Zoo Yearbk. I. 44 (heading) Leopons born at Koshien Zoo-Botanical Gardens. 1976 Observer (Colour Suppl.) 5 Sept. 42/2 Two leopons were born at a zoo in Japan in 1959. 1985 Sunday Tel. 21 July 2/4 The last of the ‘Leopons’, a cross between a leopard and a lion, has died at a zoo in western Japan. |