by Raphael
(Singapore)
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, reserve managers etc.
And their reply are consistent, almost 80 – 85% favor the tiger. With the others mostly saying anyone could win, a handful favors the lion. Please take note, I have over 200 replies including from the following:
Bronx Zoo, Miami Metro Zoo, Valmik Thapar, John Varty, Randy Miller, Predators in Action, Sriracha Tiger Zoo, San Diego Zoo, San Francisco zoo, Singapore Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Tiger Creek sanctuary, Break creek Foundation, Save China’s Tigers, Lionresearch.org, Craig Packer, Big Cat Rescue, Turpentine Creek Wildlife etc etc… much more, feel free to Google these names, and find their email address and email them. Seriously they all favor the tiger.Let’s have some quotes shall we?
“People always ask me which one is bigger? If a tiger and a lion had a fight, which one would win? Well, I’ve seen tigers crunch up a full-grown leopard tortoise like it was nothing. And lions try, but they just don’t get it right. If there’s a fight, the tiger will win, every time.” – John Varty, filmmaker.
“While we would much prefer that people focus their thoughts on saving these magnificent animals than on who would win if a lion and tiger fight, the power of these two largest cats seems to raise this question in people’s minds. While it would depend on the size, age and aggressiveness of the specific animals involved, generally tigers have a significant advantage” – Big Cat Rescue (Source)
Are tigers stronger than lions? And if they fight, who will win?
Recent research indicates that the tiger is indeed stronger than the lion in terms of physical strength. Lions hunts in prides, so it would be in a group and the tigers as a solitary creature so it would be on its own. A Tiger is generally physically larger than a Lion. Most Experts would favour a Siberian and Bengal Tiger over an African Lion. – Save China’s Tigers
National Geographic also favors the tiger:
Bite force charts, stamina charts, strength, hrr chart…from various institutes all favor tiger as the stronger and the more athletic feline.
You are pitting a larger, stronger, faster, feline with longer canines (along with higher bite force) and larger paws and claws against a smaller, weaker cat.
This is not even debate.
Raphael
The experts say the tiger wins a tiger vs lion fight to Lion vs Tiger
So it looks as if the scalable height for a big tiger could easily be around 20 ft.
http://bigcatrescue.org/big-cat-attacks/
August 28, 2010 Miami, FL: Visitors to Miami’s Jungle Island stampeded over each other to avoid an escaped, 3 yr old, 500 lb. tiger named Mahesh. A monkey escaped while being transported through the zoo and 500 lb. Mahesh bounded over the 14-foot fence into the public area according to the Miami Herald. The attraction’s three big cats — which include a liger and a white tiger — have been confined to a “night kennel,” while the park investigates. “We were really scared. There were people crying,” Miami mom Dorothy Evans told the Herald, adding that people knocked each other down as they sprinted toward the shelter. “People were running for their lives,” Larry Rhodes, 46, of Pompano Beach, told the Sun Sentinel. Miami Fire Rescue Lt. Ignatius Carroll told the Herald that several people were injured while running, including a mother who fell on top of her 15-month old baby. Another guest was taken to a Miami hospital after suffering a panic attack. Bhagavan (Kevin) Antle, who also owns T.I.G.E.R.S. in Myrtle Beach, SC and who is the owner of Mahesh, was charged with one count of maintaining captive wildlife in an unsafe condition, resulting in threats to public safety. Park owner Bern M. Levine was charged with two second-degree misdemeanors for conditions resulting in the animals’ escape. The charges for both men have a maximum penalty of $500, FWC officer Pino said. Video
I remember visiting the Lahore Zoo about 7-8 years back and the minute I entered the main gate of the Zoo, I heard the lion roar and the roar was soo loud that I thought that the lion had somehow got out and I stopped my wife from going further.
The Lion enclosure is about 800 metres from the main gate and still the roar felt as if the lion was just 50 metres away from me.
By the way I haven’t as yet heard the tigers roar.
The lion roar is designed to communicate over several kilometres. I have a page on the tiger roar.
No I am not westernized at all. And keeping beards is certainly not a sign of masculinity, it is indicated by religion basically. Here where I am staying, people keep mustache and consider it a sign of masculinity, even the women prefer it.
My mother was taught by nuns in Saint Joseph Convent where she completed her senior Cambridge before marrying to my father.I am talking about late 1930’s and 40’s.
So in a way you just could say that I am a bit westernized because of my mother who had very broad views on everything and she taught us to respect our own wishes and developed in us tolerance for everything and also taught us not to follow anything blindly and to use good common sense.
I also have a mustache even though I would very much prefer to be without it. by the way it is not for attracting females as I am married with kids also.
But I really don’t know whats going on. Where I lived for 25 years before coming to Lahore (in Karachi population around 10 million ) people did not prefer either beards or mustaches, and even the women did not prefer the mustache. But in Lahore (population around 16 million) everyone does. So I have kept one too even though I look horrible in it, as they say “when in Rome…….
Coming back to the topic, where tigers are concerned, I remember reading in the net that a tiger had jumped over an electrified fence 15 ft tall and killed and seriously injured some persons.
So I think that the minimum height should be at least 25 ft (if not electrified) and constructed of such a material which does not lend support to either claws or the pads of the tiger.
I went to the Zoo in Lahore, and the same case was noticeable there too. I mean here not the height of their enclosure which was fine but that that the lions were well fed and resting with swollen stomach’s and the tigers looked mean and hungry prowling around their cages and with empty hanging stomach’s. The look in their eyes when they looked at you is enough to give you shivers. It is very clear that they are looking at you the same way a hungry person may look at roast beef
So basically to sum it all up I would say that the tigers are suffering from near starvation here in Pakistan while the lions are well fed and content, but the poor tigers pass their time with half empty bellies.
I wonder if WWF can do anything about it. But they will have to visit both the Safari Park and our Lahore Zoo first ( the Lahore Zoo incidentally is the largest in South Asia).
At near the end of december, I plan to visit the zoo with my family and then I will post here the pictures of both tigers and the lions and then you can judge too.
Regards
Hi Sethi, thanks for the response. You write as if you have lived in England for a good number of years. I don’t like to think of tigers being starved in zoos. I wonder if they keep them half starved to make them look more mean and therefore a better attraction for zoo visitors. Whatever the reason, I hate it – the whole thing.
It would be very interesting to see photos. In fact, any photos of any cats, domestic, stray, feral or wild, in Pakistan would be good because I like to explore places and see the cats of those places other than Europe and America.
By the way I went to Lahore in 1971 on a bus! I was passing through on the way to Sri Lanka. I was one of the bus drivers.
Tigers can jump 15 ft.
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/32793154/
Where alqaida is concerned, they may be found in the extreme northern parts of Pakistan (bordering Afghanistan), but not in the main cities.
But you can’t distinguish between them and the local people because all of them keep beards.
Where beards are concerned, I would like to keep one (french type) or small beard, but my beard is nearly all white and this would result in people calling my “uncle”. Whenever I shave, I develop barber blisters in about 2 hours (small pus type pimples).
Right now I am using a fine electric trimmer.But I did at one time keep a beard but I got tired of scratching (as it was itching a lot).
In our Safari Park, the tigers look lean and hungry while the lions look fat and well fed. So they are differentiating between the carnivores, something which they shouldn’t.
The tiger is more regal than the lion.
That makes a 16 foot fence unsafe! I may have got that wrong or perhaps there was some other structure near the fence that the tiger jumped on first. Personally, I’d get rid of all zoos and create well managed reserves that were much larger than the existing ones. But there is no space for them. Too many people.
As you know beards are rare in the West. In the UK certainly. I guess they like beards in Pakistan as it is a sign of masculinity. Sethi, it seems you are Westernised. You must have lived in the West at some stage.
Hey everyone have a look at this site
Thanks Sethi for the link. The picture you refer to that is next to your comment is an avatar that was created for you. You have probably used it somewhere like Google+ and it has somehow been incorporated as what is called a “gravatar”.
Hope you are OK in Pakistan. In the West we hear lots of bad things about Pakistan. I am sure not all of it is true. What is it like for domestic cats in Pakistan?
I drove through Pakistan in 1971. I am sure it has changed.
Thanks I’m fine. Nothing much happens here in Pakistan. The bad things are usually confined to specific areas, and obviously people don’t go to such areas (slum areas).
Where I am working, we were just visited by a delegation from WWF who commented upon the same thing, and as he had toured nearly the whole city (main areas) and was surprised as he didn’t see anything of the like.
So usually problems are caused by foreign agents working for different agendas.
There are about 3 persons who own lions here in the city, one person does it for his own interest, and the other two for show purpose.
Tigers do not enjoy much popularity here in Pakistan, because of the old adage “the lion is the king of the jungle”.
We have got some seriously big tigers in the Safari Park in Lahore, and you can match their size with the lions also available here.
About 1 year back I had visited the Safari Park and there was an enclosure, the height of which was just 12 ft from the ground and 2 boys were teasing the tigers ( a white tiger and a bengal), would you believe that my blood “froze” when I gazed upwards and found the height to be just around 11-12 ft? I bundled my family as urgently as I could and left that area.
I warned the boys but as they didn’t pay any heed to my warning (plus they also looked like local toughs ) I just left them to their luck, but I hightailed from that area.
I know for sure that a 12 ft high enclosure is not much of a problem for a tiger (maybe for a lion but not a tiger).
Regards
Hi Sethi, yes, there was a case about a year ago of a tiger jumping a 12 foot zoo fence. I think 15 feet is the legal requirement in the US but that is from memory and I could be wrong. Tigers are awesome jumpers and more athletic than lions.
As I expected there is a lot of hype in the Western press about Pakistan. We get the impression it is the wild west and lawless with large areas governed by Al Qaeda.
Hello,
There are some facts which cannot be changed.
1.Lions are taller compared to tigers 4 ft at shoulder.
2.Tigers are longer than lions.
3.Tigers forearms are thickers than lions (which also translates to clobbering power).
4. Tigers in a fight can easily jump over the lion, no problem especially due to their hind quarters being bigger than the lion’s.
Now I would call a fair fight in which both the opponents are of nearly equal weight. In most of the fights the tiger is usually the smaller one.
The tigress is especially small due to sexual dimorphism in this species, so comparing fights of lions with tigress is a bit silly.
As far as the bear goes, it has the most bone density compared to other animals and I saw a normal sized bear trying to be tranquilized and he easily swatted (love swat) the rod and be broke it.
Tigers are no fools to tackle bears weighing 800-1200 pounds and they usually go for lighter sized adversaries.
A kodiak in this weight range would make short work of either lions or tigers and will kill them just by swatting them .
Now lions are always ready to fight not caring about anything else but tigers as they don’t live in groups, mostly avoid fights (but not when it comes to mating time). A wounded tiger will most certainly die but not so with the lion.
So it is basically difficult to compare tigers with lions. But pound for pound, the tiger is stronger, has more jumping ability, trees are no obstacle (I saw a tv show on animal planet where a lioness has gone up a tree to save her cub, the cub got down okay but she died on a limb trying to get down), and ponds and rivers are not obstacles for him as he can attack canoers even in the water.
Thanks a lot for taking the time to put your point of view. Great comment Sethi. Stick around. Are you in India? If you please write some more for PoC. I love to hear from people who live in Asia.
Hello Michael, nice talking with you.
No I am in Pakistan. How did my picture get up there? I didn’t attach it?
I have been following lions and tigers all my life (on tv and internet), and the internet has been a big help to me in this regard.
You can see lots of clips on youtube also.
I am not sure why people are biased towards lions. Tigers are clearly the stronger feline.
Regards