Lion Versus Tiger Bite Force

by Leonardo
(South Africa)

Tiger neck bite
Tiger neck bite. Picture in public domain.
Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles:- Toxic to cats | Dangers to cats

Bite Force – New bite force research, done by Animal Planet, reveals that the tiger has a much stronger bite force that the lion. The lion has a bite force of 600 lbs per square inch. The tiger bites down at 1000 lbs per square inch.

Please watch, and use this as part of your research. =)

Tigers in general have a quite sizable bite force advantage over the lion.

This is indicated in the Bite force study here:

Bite force study

As for bite force chart, there are many of them, most of them indicate that the tiger has a higher bite force than the Lion.

Roar

Furthermore, in recent years, the tiger has been found to have a stronger roar than the lion. The male tiger’s roar includes infra-sound, working like the sperm whale of the ocean. It can stun prey items.

Paw Swipe Strength

Furthermore the strength of paw swipe of tigers is stronger, deduced from the HRR (Humerous Radius Ratio) chart which comes from a PDF file conducted by a university.

Anyway, below is the chart study on HRR of felines which talks about big cat’s strength pound for pound (relatively to their size). The lower the HRR (Humerus Radius Ratio), the stronger the feline’s forearms is lb for lb.

This comes with the Chart. I’ll summarize what they say:

The tiger has the 2nd highest score. The lowest score of the big cats is the lions. The jaguar has the shortest humero-radial and humero-ulna ratios of the extant big cats at 0.82 and 1.01 respectively, followed by the tiger, puma and leopard. The lion’s Humerus Radius Ratio ratio is approximately 0.90 and 1.04.

So from these charts, we can deduce that the World’s strongest living cat in terms of forearms strength is the tiger, however the jaguar is stronger lb for lb.

And it also shows that at equal weights, the tiger is significantly stronger in terms of forearms strength compared to the lion. This means that since Tigers are usually heavier than lions, they would be much stronger in terms of forearms strength. Take note that even at the same size, the tigers score better in terms of HRR, so even at the same size, the tiger’s paw swipe should be stronger than that of the lion’s.

These charts are from scientific tests and research done on real live animals, unfortunately for the time being I am not able to provide more information for you because my computer has crashed just some time ago and I have lost a lot of information regarding this subject which I had acquired from research on a long time ago.

I had another chart specifically on paw swipe force of felines, which compares the paw swipe of different felines, unfortunately I am unable to relocate it now.

Tigers are better than lions in terms of IQ/EQ

Here is the chart to prove that:

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/2526/eqandbfqchartqw2.png – link is broken 3th Jan 2013.

I also have direct accounts of Tigers hunting in streaks and seems to have higher IQ than lions in terms of hunting together.

Size

Regarding size and weight. Remember, Tiger is the undisputed Largest cat on the planet.

In recent years, there are no Male Bengal Tiger in the wild, full grown, other than in the Sundarbans which weigh less than 200kg! Lions on the other hand, frequently weigh 185kg or less.

Leonardo

See also a recent lion versus tiger fight that was lost by the lion. The lion was killed with one tiger paw swipe.

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Lion Versus Tiger Bite Force

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Mar 16, 2012
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Not quite true! NEW
by: Prime

I really dont want to waste any time on comparing minor details like opinions of animal experts, trainers that know there personalities an scientist that give estimate weight calculations on weight an power. I’m just going to present who has more accounts of killinng an beating the other, since Im a fan of both lion an tigers an not Bias, I am still shocked that people think the tiger will win more times than the lion in the wild because 1 lion can an has killed a tiger in a 1 on 1 before and lions live in pride’s of 12 an up to help survive against 10s of thouands of yearly migrating buffalo.

Without further a due here’s a few accounts of lions killing tigers

1.Genius books/Animal facts, Lion named Nero killed Tim the tiger in an Australian zoo.(Documentary)
2.1936 Agartala zoo in bengal, a lion kills a tiger.(Local news report)
3.1935 Sikestonians saw a lion kill a tiger in a local town circus act.(Documentary)
4.1934 2 tigers died, In the movie devil tiger from a lion-(Video)
5.1955 oct, 6 Natrual history society, Page 465-468, 3 separate accounts lion won all 3.(Documentary)
6.1960 Korea pitfights Male lions won majority of all fights.( Hidden news Report)
7.1981 Martin. L Albert witnessed a lion kill a tiger.(Documentary)
8.1954 Lion kills tiger with one blow in boltimore zoo.(Documantry)
9.1935 In the town Bedford Massachusetts a Zoo lost a tiger to a lion.(Local news)
10.Gir foreset 3 tigers vs 3 lions, all lions won. (Video) -Youtube-


Feb 10, 2012
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Leonardo NEW
by: Michael

Hi Leonardo. I have made a link from the URL that you put in your comment. Hope that is what you where looking for or at least does the trick.

Michael


Feb 08, 2012
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New Study!
by: Leonardo

The IQ/EQ Chart seems to be down, i will try to upload it again!

In the mean time, another study which shows Tiger has larger brain than Lion, hence proving that it is more intelligent:

Here:

Why the tiger, not the lion, is king of the jungle

The owner of the page, please help me add this in!

Thanks!

Cheers!
~ Leonardo
South Africa


Feb 02, 2012
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Tiger wins
by: Joe Smith BSc (Holbrook, Arizona, USA)

A healthy male Siberian or Bengal tiger would most likely beat a male African lion in a serious, one-on-one fight to the death. However, in minor fights, the tiger would most likely submit to avoid injury, because it is smart.


Jan 26, 2012
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Thanks
by: Michael

Leonardo, thanks a lot for this. Very nice. I think it is the best argument I have seen on this page.

I am just glad that you agree with me although my arguments are weaker than yours.

Nice to hear from S.Africa.

Michael


9 thoughts on “Lion Versus Tiger Bite Force”

  1. I like to point out other things.

    1) The bite force of 691 was taken in 2005 and it was a very questionable gesture not to say irrational by the National Geographic. Here why. They measured the bite force of a 2-year-old lion with the one of a full-grown tiger! Years later the National Geographic redone the measurements on an adult lion and they conclude that the lion, tiger and hyena have the similar bite forces. Unfortunately people still take the old measurements instead of the more accurate one why? The bite force difference is irrelevant in a combat since they all have enough power to kill with a throat bite anyway.

    2) The majority of Clyde Beatty’s lions and tigers were born in the wild. At the end of his career he had lost at least 50 tigers to the lions and only lost about 5 lions to the tigers. I like to point out for a long time there was a lot more born in the wild tigers in zoos and in the circus than lions. More often than not a born in captivity lions faced a born in a wild tiger which is a great physical and genetic advantage since many lions suffered from inbreeding and wild lions are stronger and more ferocious.

    3) In circus times there are several cases in a single combat a male lion had killed 2 and even 3 tigers. Which is very revealing of the male lion’s fighting skills, strength and will power.

    4) The Asiatic lion is believed to be in average smaller than their African counterparts. In India lions and tigers are natives of this country. Several Indian writers saw some Lion and tiger combats in the wild and again most of them goes in favour of the lion.

    5) The animal instinct doesn’t lie. In captivity if lions and tigers are in the same enclose generally the healthy male lions are in control. Several trainers notice that tigers fear adult male lions.

    Reply
  2. As far as a know, all the historical lion/tiger films combats goes in favor of the male lions over the tiger. The scenarios is almost the same the tiger try to escape and the male lion is running after him. Many modern videos shows more or less the same thing. For example.

    VICTORIOUS OLD MALE LION AGAINST TWO YOUNGER ADULT WHITE TIGERS (FULL VERSION)
    http://www.savevid.com/video/lion-vs-tiger-who-wins.html

    SUBMISSION IS ANOTHER WAY TO CONDIRM THE LION’S SUPERIORITY

    1-SUBMISSIVES TIGERS

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu_XQGR2nJU

    2-SUBMISSIVES TIGERS

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwwVOT3IEEI

    3-SUBMISSIVES TIGERS

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwwVOT3IEEI

    4-SUBMISSIVES TIGERS

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUH3ksUcHt4

    5-Why the Koreans did this? One caged lioness with 3 most likely tigresses. Outnumbered and trap in a cage. The lioness showed great ferocity, making the tigers back off and showing submission to her.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkA14Wk2Vu8

    6-THREE INTIMIDATED AND SUBMISSIVE WHITE TIGERS

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgulpCcAr7Q

    7- TWO INTIMIDATED MALE TIGERS (notice these two tigers were in a high position, perhaps first and second dominant male tigers)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvWZngn9MPc

    8-SUBMISSIVE TIGERS

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHYoQVcw1gU

    NATURE’S LAW, THE DOMINATOR CONTROLS FOOD

    1-Male lion control the food tiger force to back up.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjjHffy-Nds

    2-Male lion control the food tiger force to back up.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jedrGq2DUQk

    3-Male lion steal the tiger’s food, tiger force to back up.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxRQWPRVDsY

    4- White male lion and three white tigers. Lion inters first, tigers keep distance from the lion.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQlBNxniBmQ

    5- At 8:30 min. of the video. Koreans gave enrichment ball toy with a chicken inside to 3 or 4 tigers, probably attracted by the smell, one male lion and two lionesses came in the tiger’s side and took the ball from the tigers who immediately had retreated. The lions brought the ball to the lion’s side. When it comes for food, tigers knows that the male lion mean business. Another example of lions in control.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcNfT03nN5I

    6-Male lion control food force Indian bear back off (male lion and a three legs lioness vs. two bears.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhnaPIoz_tc

    Reply
    • Hi Ross. My take on all this is that there are very few genuine lion versus tiger fights so we can’t tell. The only way you could find out who’d win lion v tiger fight is if they lived in the same geographical area in the wild and regularly competed and fought. The truth is though they’d steer clear of each other under those circumstances. They would rarely fight. Top predators don’t tend to fight each other as it is bad for survival.

      Reply
  3. Well lions have stronger hind legs than tigers. This gives lions the ability to leap futher than tigers. And I think that the information at the top is incorrect because though tigers swipe with both paws, a lion’s paw swipe is like a clubber it knocks it’s opponent off balance so that the lion can go for a bite to the neck or the throat. I also disagree with bite forces, my information was that a young lion’s bite force was recorded at 600-690 lbs per sq. inch, while an adult lion’s bite force was 900 lbs per sq. inch. I really think that so of this information on this page is misleading to make the tiger more superior to the lion, when both these big cats have an equal chance at injuring or killing the other.

    Reply

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