Lion vs Tiger

lion vs tiger
Lion vs Tiger – Lion photo by Samuel Judge – Tiger photo by Captain Chickenpants


I have added a voting poll. You’ll see that the majority of people believe that tigers win!

lion vs tiger
  
pollcode.com free polls 

 
You can also make comments freely at the base of the page if you wish. These are a true reflection on voting. Some people double voted etc but these have been removed so what is left is accurate…

Lion vs tiger vote
Lion versus Tiger vote results July 2012
In a fight between a lion and tiger, on average the tiger is more likely to win..here is my argument………

 

You disagree? Please say why in a comment. Click here to see visitors’ submissionThis submission by Leonardo in South Africa is probably the best and conclusive.

 
I thought I would enter the discussion on this subject. It is of interest to people as it pitches two dominant predators against each other. It is a bit like one of those cult moves, Gonzilla vs King Kong. There are videos on this subject. They are, understandably, of tigers fighting lions in captivity. They are just big cats imprisoned in relatively small spaces, which leads to scuffles, but they are not fights to the death or really serious fights. Certainly there are no winners.

It is unnatural for a lion to fight a tiger as it would not happen in the wild. The lion occupies Africa (its range is being eroded by people). It is also present in India in the Gir Forest on the west coast in small numbers.

The tiger lives in Asia, meaning India going west to Indonesia and China. Except for the Gir Forest lions, these dominant predators live thousands of miles apart. They also live in different habitats. The lion lives in woodlands, shrub, dry forest and even desert while the tiger lives in a wide range of habitats from the rainforests (e.g. Sumatran tiger) to the birch woodlands of Siberia (Siberian tiger). The lion lives in drier habitats.

lion vs tiger fighting engraving

lion versus tiger

If they did live in the same place they would no doubt find ways to avoid each other or at least minimize conflict. Conflict amongst equal or near equal predators is not wise as it compromises survival. The cheetah, for example, usually gives up its kill to say hyena because of the possibility of becoming injured even slightly which would severely reduce its capacity to run. And fast running is how the cheetah survives. And the humble domestic cat if he or she is an outdoor cat will try and avoid territorial disputes by marking its range (a from of communication) with scrapes and sprays.

However, at a theoretical and fun level, the only real way to figure out who would win a lion vs tiger fight (which is what people want to know, I think) is to try and work it out based on their various skills and strengths.

Lion vs Tiger..Update:

On occasions in the past lions have been forced to fight tigers. These were staged. On a more informal and far less serious nature, at the Bronx Zoo in the 1950s a lion cub called Zambezi and a young tiger named Range who were raised together faught occasionally and Range always won due to being a smarter and better fighter. In the days of the European menageries of the rich and kings (middle ages and beyond), lions were sometimes made to fight tigers. We are told that, “apparently the tigers always won….”

(Sunquist – Wild Cats Of The World -page 287 –  the premier book on the wildcats)

Update 16th Sept 2010:

There have been three very good submissions by visitors on the Lion vs Tiger debate. Here they are:

Lion vs tiger – lion wins – this is a monster page full of detail. Have a drink before you tackle this one.

Tiger would win 80% of fights with lions

The experts say the tiger wins the lion versus tiger fight

Some comments from visitors:

“I thought the lion would win but this changed my mind but I still wished the lion won. Lions all the way!!”


“As you said the tiger hunts alone…while the lion hunts in groups and this is the how it happens in nature. So there is prey like the adult elephant that the tiger can’t bring down but I saw a pack of lions kill an adult elephant. So when you say that “tigers kill any animal” it is wrong but it is correct to say that lions kill any animal. Also if they met in nature most probably the tiger would be killed because the lion always lives in a pride .. and most of time in each pride is between 1-2 male lions and sometimes 4. Also like as you said most of the time there will be no fight .. because one of them will run because of the fear of injury. And the male lion has an advantage in his shape. In the animal world external appearance is important .. the male lion has a scary appearance because of the mane. If a fight happened, the most important factor is the size and the tiger wins on this point. But as I said early, in nature tiger would most probably encounter a group of lions and he would never win because of that.”

Ahmed (from Libya) Yousef from Kuwait makes a strong case for the lion: Lion Wins nearly all the Lion vs Tiger Fights

“My favorite family of animals has always been the cat family from a young age. In the cat family, I have always liked the tiger better than the lion. I have done a report concerning this problem before, and nearly all the websites I’ve visited supported the tiger, that is with the exception of favourites. TIGERS!!!”

Cheng Ming (from China)


“I do have a comment. While, it can be generally considered that the Tiger has more qualities to deem it the winner. I think, that since both the Tiger and the Lion are closely matched up it may depend on the animal itself. For instance, if a young un-experienced tiger is placed against a naturally more agressive lion. The chances are the lion would prevail. It may come down to the animal itself and it’s behavioral characteristics coupled with experience. A lion in a zoo may not fair so well with a wild aggressive tiger. Just a thought!”

Ali (California, USA)


“Always lion wins …..u have seen that chinese fabricated videos lion has more experience than tiger so lion only wins i haved stuied the behaviour of lion and i studied the behaviour of tiger so i believe lion wins…”
Madhusudhan (Bangalore)


“Tigers can kill any animal…This is to correct an earlier statement that tigers cannot kill elephants when in fact they have been known to bring down young elephants on their own whereas it takes the whole pride of lions to take down an adult elephant. To me that further proves that the tiger would win.”

Lynnal (Zimbabwe)


  • the biggest african lion: 375 kg
  • the biggest siberian tiger: 423 kg
  • longest african lion: 270 cm (without tail)
  • longest siberian tiger: 290 cm (without tail)
  • longest jump in the distance a african lion: 10 m.
  • longest jump in the distance a siberian tiger: 9 m
  • african lion running speed: max. 80 km/h
  • siberian tiger running speed: max. 60 km/h

I think the lion would have won.

Damian (Poland)

 
Initially, I thought that the outcome would be a draw – but I changed my mind. In reality, however, either one would back off or the loser would have been young and inexperienced or perhaps ill. That said a comparison of factors that make each a great predator might be useful in deciding the outcome of a lion vs tiger contest.

Here is a table comparing the lion and tiger in respect of factors (I have called them “fight factors”) that might help us decide who would win in a lion vs tiger fight. This is summarized. The information comes from Wild Cats Of The World, the premier book on wild cats. Also please remember that the Sumatran tiger is the smallest tiger and the Siberian the biggest. There is more detail below the table:

Fight FactorLionTigerWinner – lion vs tiger
Size – weight – see Wild Cat Species by Size for a full list of wild cat sizesMax weight: 216 Kg1Max weight: 320 Kg1Tiger
Fighting ability“..eat a variety of prey….”“Tigers kill any animal…”Tiger
Climbing ability“..not particularly adept climbers…”“Tigers rarely climb trees…but can and will”Tiger
Swimming ability“quite capable swimmers…”“Tigers swim well….”Tiger
Jumping ability“..jump fences 2-3 metres high..”“Jumping ability well developed..”Draw
Bite strengthbite force quotient (BFQ) = 112bite force quotient (BFQ)= 127Tiger
What the experts saytigers are favoured over a lion – 75% of experts favor the tiger – source: National GeographicTiger

 

Video – lion vs tiger

I don’t really believe in any video of a lion versus tiger fight. They are going to be artificial as these cats never normally meet each other in the wild.

Climbing ability

Climbing ability indicates athleticism and cats are generally skilled climbers. Forest dwelling cats are better climbers than ground living cats. The tiger is more of a forest dwelling cat I think it fair to say, although habitats for both are wide. (see the master climbers: Margay and Clouded leopard).

The tiger has demonstrated some impressive climbing skills that are recalled in Wild Cats Of The World by the Sunquists:

  1. A tiger raced up a tree pulling down a person who was doing research. He was 4.6 metres of the ground (15 feet).
  2. Adult tiger climbs smooth barked tree to 10 metres (32 feet).

Lions when young can be “quite good climbers”.

Jumping ability

The tiger can jump (at a maximum it seems) from 8 to 10 metres (10 metres = 32 feet). More typically they jump around 4-5 metres. Lions have been observed to jump fences 2-3 metres high.

Fighting ability – Tiger vs Dogs

Tigers are generally the dominant predator (the authors, the Sunquists, of Wild Cats Of The World say). So they are not always on top. And a pack of wild dogs although only weighing 20 kg each can overcome a tiger and kill it. Here are two dramatic and sad descriptions of such events.

Dholes wild dogs
Dholes or Asiatic wild dogs – photo by yathin

A pack of 22 Asiatic wild dogs or dholes drove a tiger into a dried stream. The tiger protected his back with a tree. The dogs attacked and were repelled by the tiger. Five dogs were killed or badly injured and the tiger was badly hurt in this first attack. The tiger’s ears were torn, its body cut and an eye was closed. The dogs harassed the tiger for one hour and attacked again. The tiger repelled the attack but was hurt more. The third attack killed the tiger. Twelve dogs were killed and many others badly wounded.

In another wild dog attack on a tiger in southern India the following happened. The pack of dogs attacked the tigress from different angles and the tigress gradually became tired. The tigress in desperation at hearing more dogs arriving charged at two of the dogs and killed one with a swipe of its paw. The dog’s spine cracked like a whip. The tigress escaped but was eventually torn to bits about five miles away by the full pack of wild dogs.

Both are excellent examples of the hugely courageous and fierce fighting ability of the tiger. The tiger has been described as, “more of a wrestler than a runner..”. And it is built to pull down prey several times its own size.

Now to the lion, which is equally as courageous and as dynamic a fighter. Perhaps a useful comparison would be of the size of prey these two big cats hunt and pull down. This may help in assessing a lion vs tiger fight but it is a rather vague guide. Note: the prey that is available is a factor in this assessment.

Lion vs TigerMaximum weights of prey in KilogramsWinner
LionGiraffes (716)
Hippos (500)
Buffalo (500)
Cape Buffalo (600 – 900)
TigerAverage weight of tiger kills (Nagarahole National Park) was 401 kgs including several at 1000 kilograms (estimated). Moose killed by tigers weigh between 500 – 820 kgsTiger – just
A visitor made this point:“I would like to mention that lions usually hunt in groups and single lions would have a lot of trouble with any of the animals listed in the prey (especially hippos). Alone, they can only take down smaller prey such as wildebeest (max ~300 kg) and, if they can catch them, antelope and gazelles.”Comment: This supports the tiger in a lion vs tiger fight, I would have thought.

 
Note: the tiger probably just wins this round! But this is not a very scientific assessment. And it is very close. Also lions hunt in groups and alone, which complicates this comparison. Also lions and tigers get killed by large prey. For example, the water buffalo and gaur can and do kill attacking tigers.

Both lion and tiger hunt and kill very large animals but also eat small animals. Lions regularly catch antelope fawns.

What Do Lions Eat.

 

Bite Strength

This is a comparison of bite strengths for various animals. The bite strength or force listed here takes into account the size of the animal so it is a direct and fair comparison (i.e. a compensation for animal size is built in). In a lion vs tiger test of bite force, the tiger wins – just.

AnimalBFQ
Tasmanian devil181
African hunting dog142
clouded leopard137
grey wolf136
tiger127
cheetah 119
lion112
cougar108
bobcatsee hybrids100
brown bear78
cat58

 

Swimming ability

The lion has been observed swimming across the Okavango river and other major rivers.

Okavango river
Okavango river Africa – photo by rishon-lezion

The tiger swims well and probably is more water orientated than the lion living as it does in wetter climates. Tigers have been observed swimming to islands in the Sunda Straights (Wild Cats Of The World). The Sunda straight has tidal currents of more than 4 kilometres per hour. It is between Sumatra and Java.

Of the more major islands in this straight, Pulau Legundi is about 2.2 miles from the mainland and another island, Pulau Sebuku is about 5 miles from the mainland. However there are smaller islands that are much nearer at an estimated 300 yards to just under a mile from the mainland. This, though, is very impressive swimming for a cat! This is the sea not a river. See map below:

Sunda Straight between Sumatra and Java
Sunda straight – Lion vs Tiger – Wikipedia commons – author ChrisO

Tiger out swims the lion

Sunda Straight
Sunda Straight – photo by soulsurfer3

In a lion vs tiger contest the tiger out swims the lion.

Conclusion: Tiger wins a lion vs tiger fighting contest.

Note: 1. Wild Cats of the World by Mel and Fiona Sunquist

What Other Visitors Have Said

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page…

Lion Versus Tiger Bite Force 
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 …

This is kinda funny… 
I won’t lie to you; I am not an expert, in fact, I’m only a senior in high school. BUT, I HAVE taken many courses in Biology and I’ve read my fare share …

Lion is a better fighter than a tiger 
In most video that I have seen between lions & tigers (with the exception of biased edited video), the lion wins! Tigers are great cats second only to …

Tiger vs Lion : Who would win? 
A lion would win 60% of the lion vs tiger fights. These are my reasons. It’s quite a strong subject matter to bring up, but seeing as many people …

Two visitors say lion would beat tiger in a fight 
A tiger is king in the his jungle but the lion is king of all beasts. After all the Panthera Leo Persica invaded Bengal tiger territory. Lion’s bite for …

Jesus the Lion of Judah 
In a hypothetical lion versus tiger fight , I do not believe the Tiger would win… Your expert picks are not accurate. During Tiger week on Animal …

Tigers would win 80% of fights with lions 
This article is good, no doubt about it, but I would like to say that taking into consideration the average weights of lion and the tiger would be better …

Lion vs Tiger: Your facts don’t match the experts 
The first thing is there is no way to truly compare the two because of all the the sub-species, the largest of tigers are bigger than the the largest lions….

I say a lion beats a tiger in a fight 
Most articles are biased towards tigers. I prefer tigers to lions but looks and size are not going to win a fight for you. I love tigers but there is no …

A Lion Wins in Lion Versus Tiger Fight 
Hello to all lion vs tiger fans, here are some reasons that attest that a male lion is a winner in 9 of 10 fights (comparing African lion to any type of …

Lion Wins nearly all the Lion vs Tiger Fights 
I don’t agree at all with you…it seems that you show so much wrong information. And you believe the Chinese who fabricated so many video tapes to prove …

Lions could easily defeat a Tiger in a fight to the death 
There’s no doubt that Lions could easily defeat a Tiger in a fight to the death – if both opponents were of equal stability at beginning of fight. It …

Your Lion Versus Tiger Assessment is Rubbish 
If these two predators did ever meet in the wild the lion would win as they live in a pride and tigers are solitary. As for the prey table there has been …

All things being equal a lion will win all lion vs tiger fights 
Lion would almost always win against tigers. This was true in the Roman period. In fact, there was only one recorded case of a tiger defeating a lion in …

The tiger will win every time it faces a lion 
Tigers are more skilled hunters than lions. Tigers can bring down large preys alone whereas, it takes several lionesses to do the same. So, even …

Lions Wins No Question in Lion vs Tiger  
A friend of mine is a zoo keeper and i personaly study both animals . The male fully grown fully maned african lion has no equal.He is the best …

Lion wins with Tiger of same size
I agree the Tiger is (Siberian) probably one of the top 3 predators on the planet. A big male Siberian will way over 600 pounds and I think because of …

The experts say the tiger wins a tiger vs lion fight 
Hey there people, we can debate all day long, but the truth hurts.. for lion fans. I have emailed various experts, wildlife research institutes, zoos,…

Lion vs Tiger article is well researched 
I just got done watching the Animal Planet show Animal Face-off: Lion Vs. Tiger, and the program was so off the wall, they did not take into account things …

Historically Lions Nearly Always Win Fights with Tigers 
Historically lions nearly always win fights with tigers and other large species. Historical documents prove this time and time again. Although tigers …

Tiger versus Lion  
Ok, well if there were to be a fight between a full grown male Siberian tiger, and a full grown male African lion, I would say the tiger would claim victory….

Tiger vs Lion fight – who is the winner? 
Answer of scientist: the male Tiger vs male Lion – 90% chance the tiger is winner because the tiger is bigger and stronger than lion.The weight …

Lion vs Tiger – This is a Great Article 
I know everyone that has posted here has written that the lion is the stronger and therefore the winner, but I have to tell you the truth. The tiger would …

Lion vs tiger – the most recent account happened in a Turkish Zoo! 
Who’s the king of the jungle? Who would win the lion versus tiger fight? An old question about inter-species conflict has, unfortunately, been answered …

Lion – Person vs Person Conflict  Not rated yet
People disagree about the lion vs tiger debate. This is classic.

Lion vs Tiger – Lion wins most times  Not rated yet
In this debate I’m going to cover just basic’s on the lion, we don’t need to cover attribute’s of minor weight and power because they are basically anatomically …

Tiger all the way!  Not rated yet
Tiger won almost every time when they fight against lions. Now, I’m gonna tell you the main trick.  I have read in books that tigers have good jumping …

Lions are always at the top even when they lose  Not rated yet
Most tiger fans make me laugh: they are ignorant. Mostly are Chinese and/or Asians whom they never saw a male African lion in a fight. The size of the …

Lion wins in a lion versus tiger fight  Not rated yet
In my opinion the staged Korean and Chinese fights are just that, staged by either fighting young, ill and underfed lions. Having lived there this is not …

A male lion will always fight to protect the pride  Not rated yet
I don’t agree with your argument that a tiger will win a lion versus tiger fight. You seem to miss some fundamental points. The female lions do all of …

The male lion would easily kill a tiger  Not rated yet
A friend of mine is a lion trainer at Marine World in Vallejo, CA. where they have lots of tigers and lions. They work with each day. I asked him if …

Lion Would Win Most Conflicts With A Tiger  Not rated yet
I like the debate, the truth is tigers would likely avoid conflict, while lions would start one. Tigers are heavier & stronger but not larger and faster,…

 

40 thoughts on “Lion vs Tiger”

  1. The author of the best comment will receive an Amazon gift of their choice at Christmas! Please comment as they can add to the article and pass on your valuable experience.
  2. THE LION’S CAPACITY TO LEARN IS SURPRISING

    It’s a manner of common sense. The social lions use complicated and coordination hunting tactics that no other felines do. That alone should be enough to show the lion’s intelligence superiority. And then the 2016 intelligence test confirmed the lion superiority over the other big cats. You want to know how bright lions can be? A Russian man uses his lioness as a sheep guardian! This lioness learns to guard sheep like any sheep dogs do.

    Man explaining the lion’s complexity of a warthog hunt.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_DN7RORNPM

    Lioness works as sheep dog.
    http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-36695176/the-lion-herding-sheep-in-russia-s-dagestan

    http://pickle.nine.com.au/2016/07/04/16/52/lioness-trained-to-protect-sheep

    Russian 2016 original article with pictures:

    https://www.stav.kp.ru/daily/26546.4/3562450/

    Same thing in fights; “lions win over tigers with a combination of superior power and tactics.” (Clyde Beatty trained 2,000 lions and tigers during his career. It is also noticed that at the beginning Beatty thought tigers were better one on one fighter, after witnessing so many combats, he mentioned that lions will win 90% of the time against a tiger).

    https://qph.ec.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-46d688e02d1a10a75528742c12c8713e-c

    Reply
  3. THE LION VS TIGER INTELLIGENCE

    It is a long-time practice to overrate tigers. His intelligence is not an exception. One classical justification was because a tiger is solitary (so are leopards and jaguars) he is more intelligent. They forget that the most intelligent animals like chimps, dolphins, elephants and so on are all social animals. The exception is the tiger he is more intelligent than the social lion!

    In 2009 these people immediately used a study on feline skulls. According to a 2009 article, the tiger’s supposedly intelligence is based on a simple assumption; tigers have relative bigger brain 16% than lions. Please note their confession “of NOT HAVING ANY PROOF” of the superiority of the tiger’s intelligence”. Nevertheless, with this simple supposition they titled the article: “Tigers are ‘brainier’ than lions.”

    We can ask ourselves if this is scientific. Sadly it is very common to see scientists have fixed ideas based on ideologies instead on facts and this is a good example.

    Scientists studied the relative brain size skulls of the big cats. No intelligence tests were ever made. The explanation given was based on the Darwin’s evolution theory. What Darwin said? Men were more evolved than women because they have bigger brains. White men were more evolved than black men because they have in average bigger skulls and brain. Was this based on facts? The relation of brains sized and intelligence was never proven. If it was the case, whales and elephants have bigger brains than humans they should be the ones more evolved, therefore according to Darwin’s evolution ideology more intelligent. We should never see women and black people in university and having better grades than white men.

    Darwin chooses the intelligent social chimps because they look more like humans (even if the social gorilla have bigger brain witch is a contradiction to his theory), and seems to avoid making comparisons with the whale and elephant brains. What is more disturbing for a very long time scientists stated that “social animals are more intelligent”. And just because the tiger as a relative bigger brain, they forgot all about the social animal superiority intelligence they preached for so long! These scientists did not take into consideration or choose to ignore; the more complex lion communication language and the more complex lion hunting tactics.

    It’s only 7 years later that intelligent test studies in groups of hyenas, lions, leopards and tigers were made. So what were the results? First the hyenas, second the lion, third the leopard and the biggest brain the tiger last. In short the social animals had better grades and the brain size was irrelevant.

    The article said: ” Researchers have discovered that the tiger has a far bigger brain than its big cat rival, even though it is often seen as lower down the food chain.” In other words, with his larger brain the tiger is not the top land predator the one at the very top of the food chain are the lions (National Geographic 2012). Lions hunt the biggest preys on earth it is the most challenging role in nature. Would the most challenge role in the animal kingdom was given to a less intelligent predator?

    So to no surprise the test shows by a large margin a greater capacity for lions to resolved problems than tigers. Lions came first for their capacity of investigation. Here are the links:

    1-
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/6126082/Tigers-are-brainier-than-lions.html
    2-
    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-016-1009-y
    3-
    https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lions-are-the-brainiest-of-the-big-cats/
    4-
    http://www.sciencemag.org/video/why-are-lions-smarter-tigers

    Reply
  4. ABOUT THE TIGER vs LION SIZE

    Lately all the past tiger weight and size evaluations were revised. The conclusion was, their evaluation and methods used were not trustworthy. It was common in the past for tiger hunters to overrate their kills. The reality is in the wild, rarely a big cat reach 225 kg (500 lb). Real oversized big cats are exceptional not the norm. By giving the maximum weight and not the average (it can go up to 320 kg (700 lb) it’s misleading the readers. Oversized wild tigers (or lions) are not the norm it is not realistic. According the numbers below and with more recent studies the male and female lion are in averaging a little bigger than their tiger’s counterparts by a little margin. However the same study suggests the possibility of more oversized tigers than lions in the wild. This can be explained by the fact that the brutal hunting and violent lifestyles of Lions especially the males would use more energy. As a general rule tigers fight less, and do swifter kills. If they don’t succeed in the first attend, they generally retreat. Lions are more persistent therefore would use more energy.

    WIKIPEDIA (not true encyclopedia accused of partiality)

    By saying a tiger found in the Sungari River in 1943 weight no less than 300 kg (660 lb) it means it was not properly weighted. We read about the case of the 384 kg (847 lb) tiger. This was never confirmed. After gorging themselves for several days a tiger (or lion) can add a lot of temporally weight. Often hunters did not take the stomach content in consideration. A more precise study was done in 2005. The average tiger weight when down. However in many sites, either the new data was voluntary ignored or updates neglected. Wikipedia based the numbers from Mazák (1983) however two years before in 1981 the Sunguist study said Siberians and Bengal tigers were similar in size. The long 1992 to 2011 study (see below) also lower the average weight of tigers even below than the lion.

    Siberian & Bengal tigers average weight

    FROM WCS RUSSIA (wildlife conservation society) See under Physical Appearance.

    Numbers are from a 1992 to 2011 Russian study taken as it is from the site.

    Siberian tigers are often considered the largest of the tiger subspecies, although they are in fact about the same size as the Bengal tiger. An adult male usually reaches a body length of 2 meters (8.2 feet), with his tail adding another meter (3 meters or 9.85 feet. Average weight for males is 160-190 kg (353-419 lbs), while females are smaller, weighing in at 110-130 kg (243-286 lbs). The largest male captured for scientific research under the Siberian Tiger Project weighed in at 206 kg (450 lbs). The Study was made from 1992 to 2011 but a similar conclusion was done years ago. The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society referred to the 1981 study (Sunguist 1981) the Siberian tigers previous to 1981 were no bigger than the Bengals, so similar to the Russian study. Seidensticker in 1999 and Sunquist in 2009 mentioned both lions and tigers are the biggest cats

    PRESS POTTOM PAGE: AMUR TIGER ECOLOGY
    http://russia.wcs.org/en-us/Wildlife/Amur-Tigers/Ecology.aspx

    So the average weight goes to the lions and the oversized to the tiger. When scientists look at both specie skeletons they find very similar. So, in averaging any differences wound be small. Looking at the whole picture, it is more correct to say that both big cats are very similar in sizes. Both lion and tiger are the largest cats.

    OBESITY IN CAPTIVITY

    Studies show that almost half of captive predators are obese. It is interesting to know that what ever weigh a tiger reached so the lion.

    Ultra obese tiger

    http://i.ytimg.com/vi/PesqBA5dMHA/hqdefault.jpg

    From BBC 1970 short feature at Colchester Zoo. Simba a 826 lb male lion.

    http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/67077000/jpg/_67077066_zoo6.jpg

    Sultan a 1,000 lb circus male lion was riding on a horse in 1962.

    http://s12.postimg.org/8tnct3bl9/Screenshot_65.png

    When presenting the lion’s characteristics it would be dishonest to say a lion can weight up to a 1,000 lb. Circus and zoos of the past and in today’s by some private owners would purposely make their lions and tigers gain a lot weight to attract public and media attention. Some lions would be neutered. That would make them gain weight. It was not done as often as tigers because male lions would loose their manes. Neutered male tigers are far less detectable.

    Neutered huge male lions

    http://images.smh.com.au/2010/08/22/1833463/stardust_circus1-420×0.jpg

    Tigers in particular will show a greater rate of obesity than lions. Obesity is a big concerned for scientists. Proper diet is a necessity to keep the big cats healthy. You will find more overweight tigers in captivity. I use to believe tigers were in average bigger in the wild than Lions, I don’t anymore. Only obese tigers in captivity are bigger.

    Reply
    • Thanks a lot, Ross, for taking the time to write such comprehensive comments and adding additional detail and facts of this page. Many thanks again.

      Reply
  5. TRUST THE ANIMAL INSTINCT AND THE LAW OF NATURE.

    Like we see generally in nature, when felines are in a group, ranks are automatically established and disagreements append regularly. Each individual feline as their own scent, but the group as a whole also as their own scent. They will obey to a different set of rules. The level of confrontation goes to negligible to very serious. To avoid fatalities big cats have a series of signs of submission depending on the seriousness. The feline’s reflexes are extraordinary and are often not perceptible to human eyes. Often slow motion or frame by frame examination is a must but may not be enough with poor image quality. A lion a social creature would make a response in a flash to any sort of sign of submission from his adversary. If you see many lions’ fights in the wild sometimes a fight stop abruptly. We may not see it but one of the two fighters had submitted. Sometimes a male lion is so enraged that he will not accept a submission. In the wild any submission from other predators would be futile. The only way out is escape. Wild Lions are born brutal fighters and battle a lot since cubs until their death. Without this program installed in their brain, this brutal and violent specie wound had disappeared a long time ago. In case of living in a group, a similar program is also printed in the brain of all other cats wild or domestic even if there are solitary by nature. The film Roar made in the 1970s involving lions, tigers, leopards and cougars will never be possible without this natural law. Be sure that ranks were established among them. The black mane Lions high level of aggressiveness was very noticeable. There were often filmed apart from the other cats. They meet with Siberian tigers in shallow waters (lions do not recognize water as a territory) and we could see the tiger’s submission postures.

    The tiger may give the last strikes as an automatic feline defensive reaction. This means nothing in the cat’s world. How do we recognize a tiger submit to a lion? He will lower his ears and head, if this is not enough depending on the seriousness he will lower the body, if this is not enough he may be exposed (rarely) his tummy (not to same as the back fighting position). When submission appends, eye contact is avoided by both sides. The lion will intently look in another direction and go away and the tiger for a moment will have his ears down keep a lower body posture.

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

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjsjZBlE7Mg

    In nature’s laws, pure strength dominance is always accompanied with a high level of aggressiveness and will power. These laws tell us that the alpha will control the food.

    IN NATURE THE ALPHA IS THE ONE CONTROLING FOOD

    1- White male lion and three white tigers. Lion inters first, tigers keep distance from the lion.

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

    2- 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, the tigers knew that the male lion is the alpha.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcNfT03nN5I

    3- Male lion steal the tiger’s food, tiger force to back up.

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

    4- Male lion that had already had his share, took the food of the tiger. Again the male lion showed his dominance and was in control.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jedrGq2DUQk

    5- Male lion control the food tiger force to back up.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjjHffy-Nds

    6- Male lion control food force Indian bear back off (old male lion and a three leg lioness vs. two bears.

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

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  6. If the lion and tiger was equals in strength and as fighters we would found a more or less 50/50 victories in historical caught on films. It never happened. In nature there are no such thing of 100%, there are always exceptions. But at the end of the day the male Lion as a greater brutal power and fighting and dodging skills. Theses fights were fair fights with no element of surprise.

    Nature tell us that as a general rule when a ion and tiger are but together in a same enclosure, the lion will in general be the alpha. In circus rings lions were often called “brutes” always ready to fight. In the circus rings tigers would rarely dare to attack a healthy black mane lion. They would generally attack the small and weak lions; the young, the lionesses and the old. It was often said that tigers rarely fight fairly.

    In the wild tigers rarely do frontal attacks, they are rear attackers. They are made to do kills using quickness and power second. They don’t strike they hold the prey and reach the throat. When they face serious opposition or only suspect one, tigers usually retreats. Lions are more willing to face danger, to do frontal attacks. Lions are strikers they used power first quickness second.

    Most trainers that worked with lions and tigers together favours the lion. The male lion would win most fights.

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