Historically, the comparative merits of thetiger 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.[1][2][3] Lions and tigers have competed in the wild where their ranges have overlapped. They have also interbred, producing tigons or ligers as offspring. The most common reported circumstance of their meeting is in captivity, either deliberately or accidentally.
In the circuses of Ancient Rome, exotic beasts were commonly pitted against each other. The contest of the lion against thetiger was a classic pairing and the betting usually favoured the tiger.[4][5] A mosaic in the House of the Faun in Pompeii shows a fight between a lion and a tiger.[6] Titus, the Roman Emperor, had Bengal tigerscompelled to fight the African lions, and the tigers always beat the lions.[7] A tiger that belonged to the King of Oude killed thirty lions, and destroyed another after being transferred to the zoological garden in London.[8] A British officer who resided many years at Sierra Leone saw many lion and tiger fights, and the tiger usually won.[9]At the end of the 19th century, the Gaekwad of Baroda arranged a fair fight between aBarbary lion and a Bengal tiger before an audience of thousands as the Asiatic lionswere no match for the Bengal tigers. The Gaekwad favoured the lion, and as a result had to pay 37,000 rupees as the lion was mauled by the tiger.[2][10]
Lions and tigers coexisted in central India until the late 19th century.[11] 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.[11] Concerns were raised that the co-presence of lions and tigers would "trigger frequent clashes".[12] 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.[11]
The Siberian tiger and Bengal tigerrepresent the largest subspecies of the Panthera genus,[14] with reliably measured specimens weighing up to 465 kg (1,025 lb) in captivity and 384 kg (847 lb) in wild,[15]and 388.7 kg (857 lb)[16] respectively. The largest African lion on record weighted 313 kg (690 lb).[17] The average weight of males is 175 kilograms (390 lb) for theAsiatic lion, 186 kilograms (410 lb) for theAfrican lion,[18][19][20] 221.2 kilograms (488 lb) for the Bengal tiger and 176.4 kilograms (389 lb) for the Siberian tiger.[21][22] The average weight 221.2 kilograms (488 lb) measured for the Bengal tiger excluded any stomach content while the average weight 186 kilograms (410 lb) measured for the African lion included stomach contents,[19][23] and a lion may eat up to 30 kg (66 lb) in one sitting.[24]
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.[25]
Brain size
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.[26][27] Balinese tigresses weight between 65–80 kg (143–176 lb)[28] while the southern African male lions have an average weight of 189.6 kilograms (418 lb), representing the largest living lions.[19]
Bite force
Tigers have been shown to have higher average bite forces (such as at the canine tips) than lions.[29] The bite force adjusted for body mass allometry (BFQ) for tiger is 127 while that for lion is 112.[30] Tigers have a well-developed sagittal crest and coronoid processes, providing muscle attachment for their strong bite.[31] Tigers also have exceptionally stout teeth, and the canines are the longest and biggest among all living felids, measuring from 7.5 to 10 cm (3.0 to 3.9 in) in length, and are larger and longer than those of a similar-sized lion,[31][32]probably because tigers need to bring down larger preys alone than lions, which usually hunt large preys in groups.[32]
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