Meet Kiara: Mostly Lion, A Little Bit Tiger, Entirely Adorable

Born in a Russian zoo, baby Kiara’s dad is an African lion and her mom’s a liger: half-lion, half-tiger, which makes her the world’s first hybrid “liliger.” When Kiara’s mom wasn’t able to nurture the cub, a housecat named Dasha who belongs to one of the zookeepers stepped in (and for 20% additional squee, here they are cuddling).

Not everyone is psyched about Kiara, cuteness be damned. National Geographic reports that big cat conservationists claim that it’s irresponsible to hybridize the species, saying that in the wild, Kiara would be “very mixed up.” :(((((