Tiger versus lion

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Lion and Tiger Fighting by James Ward, 1797

Historically, the comparative merits of the tiger versus the lion have been a popular topic of discussion by hunters, naturalists, artists and poets, and continue to inspire the popular imagination in the present day.[2][3][4] Lions and tigers have competed in the wild where their ranges have overlapped. They have also been pitted against each other in captivity, either as deliberate contests or as a result of accidental encounters.

History

In the circuses of Ancient Rome, exotic beasts were commonly pitted against each other. The contest of the lion against the tiger was a classic pairing and the betting usually favoured the tiger.[5][6] A mosaic in the House of the Faun in Pompeii shows a fight between a lion and a tiger.[7] Titus, the Roman Emperor, had Bengal tigers compelled to fight the African lions, and the tigers always beat the lions.[8] A tiger that belonged to the King of Oude killed thirty lions, and destroyed another after being transferred to the zoological garden in London.[9] A British officer who resided many years at Sierra Leone saw many lion and tiger fights, and the tiger usually won.[10] At the end of the 19th century, the Gaekwad of Baroda arranged a fight between a Barbary lion and a Bengal tiger before an audience of thousands. The Gaekwad favoured the lion, and as a result had to pay 37,000 rupees as the lion was mauled by the tiger.[3][11]

Competition in the wild

Lions and tigers coexisted in central India until the late 19th century.[12] The possibility of conflicts between the two has been raised in relation to the Asiatic Lion Reintroduction Project, which would introduce Gir Lions (Asiatic lions) from Gir Forest National Park to another preserve, the Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary, that contains tigers.[12] Concerns were raised that the co-presence of lions and tigers would "trigger frequent clashes".[13] The University of Minnesota's Lion Research Project describes one reason to delay the introduction of Gir lions to Kuno Palpur is the fears that tigers living in Kuno would kill the incoming lions.[12] The tigers, being stronger and larger than the lions, are a potential threat for survival of lions.[14]

Physical comparison

Comparative size

Comparative profiles of the lion and tiger[1]

The Amur or Siberian tiger is the largest subspecies of the Panthera genus, known to weigh up to 360 kilograms (800 lb),[15] while large African lions weigh up to 250 kilograms (550 lb).[16] The average weight of males is 175 kilograms (390 lb) for the Asiatic lion, 200 kilograms (440 lb) for the African lion,[17][18][19] 221.2 kilograms (488 lb) for the Bengal tiger and 230 kilograms (510 lb) for the Siberian tiger.[20]

Temperament

The lion is a highly social animal and the tiger is a solitary animal, and they have marked differences in personality. It is generally agreed that the tiger is the faster, smarter and more ferocious of the two so keepers of captive tigers must take care to avoid a sudden attack.[21]

Brain Size and Bite Force

A study by Oxford University scientists has shown that tigers have much bigger brains, relative to body size, than lions and other big cats. Although comparisons showed that lion skulls were larger overall, the tiger's cranial volume is the largest - even the tiny female Balinese tiger skulls have cranial volumes as large as those of huge male southern African lion skulls.[22] Tigers also have been shown to have higher average bite forces at the canine tips than lions.[23] The bite force adjusted for body mass allometry (BFQ) for tiger is 127 while that for lion is 112.[24]

Accidental fights in captivity

Although lions and tigers can be kept together in harmony in captivity,[25] conflicts between the two species in captivity ending up in fatalities have also been recorded. The most recent account of a fight in captivity happened on March 2011, where a tiger at the Ankara Zoo attacked a lion through its enclosure and killed the lion with a single paw swipe.[26] "The tiger severed the lion's jugular vein in a single stroke with its paw, leaving the animal dying in a pool of blood", officials said. At the Coney Island animal show in 1909, a male tiger killed a male lion. During the performance, a performing lion suddenly attacked a chained tiger by leaping through the air, landing on the tiger's back. Though hampered by the heavy neck chain fastened to the iron bars of the arena, the tiger was more than a match for the lion and mangled the lion to death.[27] In 1857, a tiger at the Bromwich Zoo broke into the cage of a lion and a fearful scene ensued: the lion's mane saved his head and neck from being injured, but the tiger succeeded in ripping up his stomach, and within a few minutes he was dead.[28]

Although the tiger usually came out the victor of a fight in captivity against the lion,[29][29] accounts that lions killing smaller tigers in captivity with an early advantage (e.g. by sudden attack without warning) have been occasionally recorded. For example in December 2008, a 110 kg male lion killed a 90 kg tigress in a Korean zoo by suddenly biting it in the neck when the tigress jumped down to the trench.[30] In 1951 a large male African lion killed a much smaller tigress at a circus. The lion suddenly leaped from a high perch & sank its jaws into the tigress back without warning during the circus performance. The tigress died an hour after the attack because of the injuries sustained.[31][32]

Expert opinions

John Varty, owner of the Londolozi Reserve in South Africa, said, "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."[33]

The animal rescue organisation Big Cat Rescue of Tampa, Florida answered, "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."[34]

The conservation charity Save China's Tigers stated, "Recent research indicates that the tiger is indeed stronger than the lion in terms of physical strength. Lions hunt 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."[35]

National Geographic Channel's documentary The Last Lions of Asia mentioned that a tiger has a weight advantage of 50 kilograms (110 lb) over a lion, and can kill a lion in a fight.[36]

John Smith Clarke, a British lion tamer, said in a lecture on the fight between a tiger and a lion given to the Glasgow Zoological Society while showing the actual fight on the screen, "in 100 cases out of 100 the tiger would always beat the lion. It was far more agile, it was not so clumsy in its moments, it was equally strong, it was equally armed, but it fought in a different way. The tiger very often fought rolling on its back and held the lion in its grip until it defeated him."[37]

Mythical character comparison

18th-century naturalists and authors compared the species' characters, generally in favour of the lion.[38] Oliver Goldsmith ranked the lion first among carnivorous mammals, followed by the tiger, which in his view "...seems to partake of all the noxious qualities of the lion, without sharing any of his good ones. To pride, courage and strength, the lion joins greatness, clemency and generosity; but the tiger is fierce without provocation, and cruel without necessity."[39] Charles Knight, writing in The English Cyclopaedia, disparages the opinions of naturalists Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon and Thomas Pennant in this context, stating that "...the general herd of authors who eulogise the 'courage, greatness, clemency and generosity' of the lion, contrasting it with the unprovoked ferocity, unnecessary cruelty and poltroonery of the tiger, becomes ridiculous, though led by such names as Buffon and Pennant."[38] Knight goes on to write that "The lion has owed a good deal to his mane and his noble and dignified aspect; but appearances are not always to be trusted."[38] In fact, a study was done by scientists Craig Packer and Peyton West which has claimed that the mane of the lion is strictly for mating purposes. Darker-maned lions were more often picked by females to breed, while light-maned lions weren't so lucky. This may prove that a lion's mane does not purposely help in a fight, and might even hinder the male lion, slowing it down when it attacks.[40]

Arts and literature

Art

The Seringapatam medal shows a lion defeating a tiger

Battles between the two were painted in the 18th and 19th centuries by Eugène Delacroix, George Stubbs and James Ward. Ward's paintings, which portrayed lion victories in accordance with the lion's symbolic value in Great Britain, have been described as less realistic than Stubbs'.[41] The British Seringapatam medal shows a lion defeating a tiger in battle; an Arabic language banner on the medal displays the words "ASAD ALLAH AL-GHALIB" (the lion of God is the conqueror).[42] The medal commemorated the British victory at the 1799 Battle of Seringapatam (in the town now known as Srirangapatna) over Tipu Sultan—who used tigers as emblems, as opposed to the British emblematic use of lions.[42]

Literature

English literature compared their battle strengths.[43] The poets Edmund Spenser, Allan Ramsey, and Robert Southey described lion victories.[43] In the view of a 19th-century literary critic, these contests established "sovereignty of the animal world".[43]

References

  1. ↑ Charles Frederick Partington (1835). "Felis, the cat tribe". The British cyclopæedia of natural history. Orr & Smith. 
  2. ↑ José Ortega y Gasset (2007). Meditations on Hunting. ISBN 978-1-932098-53-2. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Lion against tiger". The Baltimore Sun. 26 January 1899. p. 3. 
  4. ↑ Thomas, Isabel (2006). Lion vs. Tiger. Raintree. ISBN 978-1-4109-2398-1. 
  5. ↑ Roland Auguet (1994). Cruelty and civilization: the Roman games. ISBN 978-0-415-10453-1. 
  6. ↑ William Bridges (22 August 1959). "Lion vs. tiger: who'd win?". The Spokesman-Review. 
  7. ↑ Anthony King (2002). The natural history of Pompeii. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-80054-9. 
  8. ↑ The Medical times and gazette: A Journal of Medical Science. 1850. p. 626. 
  9. ↑ John Hampden Porter (1894). Wild beasts; a study of the characters and habits of the elephant, lion, leopard, panther, jaguar, tiger, puma, wolf, and grizzly bear. p. 239. 
  10. ↑ Tales of travellers (1838). Tales of travellers; or, A view of the world. p. 453. 
  11. ↑ "Lion against tiger". Gettysburg Compiler. 7 February 1899. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Frequently asked questions". University of Minnesota Lion Research Project. Retrieved 28 June 2011. 
  13. ↑ "MP not fit for Asiatic lions, Gujarat tells PM". Times of India. 19 June 2006. Retrieved 28 June 2011. "At a two-hour meeting of National Board of Wildlife presided by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here, Govind Patel said the "presence of tigers in the Kuno Palpur sanctuary would trigger frequent clashes between the two carnivores over territories – tiger and lions—which can never co-exist in the same place."" 
  14. ↑ "Asiatic Lions moving to Kuno". All Experts. Retrieved 28 June 2011. 
  15. ↑ Siberian Tigers, Siberian Tiger Pictures, Siberian Tiger Facts – National Geographic. Animals.nationalgeographic.com. Retrieved on 12 May 2012.
  16. ↑ African Lions, African Lion Pictures, African Lion Facts, African Cats – National Geographic. Animals.nationalgeographic.com. Retrieved on 12 May 2012.
  17. ↑ http://www.thebigzoo.com/Animals/African_Lion.asp
  18. ↑ http://animal.discovery.com/tv-shows/wild-kingdom/about-animals/asiatic-vs-african.htm
  19. ↑ Nowell, Kristin; Jackson, Peter (1996). "Panthera Leo" (PDF). Wild Cats: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group. pp. 17–21. ISBN 2-8317-0045-0. 
  20. ↑ Slaght, J. C., D. G. Miquelle, I. G. Nikolaev, J. M. Goodrich, E. N. Smirnov, K. Traylor-Holzer, S. Christie, T. Arjanova, J. L. D. Smith, Karanth, K. U. (2005) Chapter 6. Who‘s king of the beasts? Historical and recent body weights of wild and captive Amur tigers, with comparisons to other subspecies. Pages 25–35 in: Miquelle, D.G., Smirnov, E.N., Goodrich, J.M. (Eds.) Tigers in Sikhote-Alin Zapovednik: Ecology and Conservation. PSP, Vladivostok, Russia (in Russian)
  21. ↑ Kirk Bates (28 February 1951). "When a Lion fights a Tiger". The Milwaukee Journal. 
  22. ↑ Yamaguchi, N.; Kitchener, A. C.; Gilissen, E.; MacDonald, D. W. (2009). "Brain size of the lion (Panthera leo) and the tiger (P. tigris): implications for intrageneric phylogeny, intraspecific differences and the effects of captivity". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 98 (1): 85–93. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2009.01249.x. 
  23. ↑ Christiansen, P.; Wroe, S. (2007). "Bite forces and evolutionary adaptations to feeding ecology in carnivores". Ecology 98 (88): 347–385. 
  24. ↑ Wroe, S.; McHenry2, C.; Thomason, J. (2004). "Bite club: comparative bite force in big biting mammals and the prediction of predatory behaviour in fossil taxa". Proceedings of the Royal Society. 
  25. ↑ "Tiger, lion and bear form unusual friendship". 07 Dec 2009. 
  26. ↑ "Tiger Kills Lion In Turkish Zoo". BBC News. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2011. 
  27. ↑ "Tiger whips Lion". Boston News Access. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2011. 
  28. ↑ The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. Charles Darwin
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 "Is Tiger Real King of Beasts". 11 Jul 1909. 
  30. ↑ "Lion Kills Tiger in Jeonju Zoo". Retrieved 9 December 2013. 
  31. ↑ "Lion Kills Tiger in Savage Battle". Ottawa Citizen. 20 February 1951. Retrieved 2014-01-19. 
  32. ↑ "Beatty fights off lion after tiger is killed". The Tuscaloosa News. 20 February 1951. Retrieved 2014-01-19. 
  33. ↑ "John Varty Interview". Country Life. 10 October 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2013. 
  34. ↑ "Big Cat Rescue FAQ". Big Cat Rescue. 9 February 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2012. 
  35. ↑ "Save China's Tigers Questions". Save China's Tigers. 9 November 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2011. 
  36. ↑ "Lion vs Tiger". YouTube. 8 July 2008. Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  37. ↑ "Lion versus the tiger". The Glasgow Herald. 26 Mar 1937. 
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 38.2 Charles Knight (1854). The English cyclopaedia: a new dictionary of Universal Knowledge. Bradbury and Evans. p. 219. Retrieved 30 June 2011. 
  39. ↑ Oliver Goldsmith; Georges Léopold C.F.D. Cuvier (baron de.) (1847). A history of the earth and animated nature, with an intr. view of the animal kingdom tr. from the Fr. of Baron Cuvier, notes and a life of the author by W. Irving. p. 367. Retrieved 30 June 2011. 
  40. ↑ "Mane of the Lion". Bigcatnews.blogspot.com. September 2006. Retrieved 4 February 2012. 
  41. ↑ Frank McLynn (2006). 1759: The Year Britain Became Master of the World. Canongate Books. p. 163. ISBN 978-0-8021-4228-3. "George Stubbs, the most famous and original animal painter of his time who was just reaching his peak in 1759, liked to display combats of lion versus tiger, though he did not commit the egregious mistake made in James Ward's animal pictures painted later in the century where the lion symbolises Britain and the tiger India; in reality, as we know very clearly from the obscene animal fights staged by the Ancient Romans in the arena, the tiger would win every time." 
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 Maya Jasanoff (2007). Edge of Empire: Lives, Culture, and Conquest in the East, 1750–1850. Random House. ISBN 978-0-307-42571-3. 
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 Charles Francis Richardson (1883). Good literature: a literary eclectic weekly, Volume 5. AbeBooks. p. 114. 

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