Tiger vs Lion Who Would Win is one of the most debated topic of the internet. Tigers are the largest of all big cats and perfect killing machines along with the superior combination of strength, cunning, and agility. On the other hand, a lion is a fearsome warrior with an appearance, to frighten even the mightiest of animals. It is not possible now that the Lion and Tiger may confront each other in the wild. However, both of these beasts have faced each other in and out of an arena. We have gathered complete information about the strengths of each of these beasts and compared them in different scenarios.
Tiger vs Lion Who Would Win
Lion’s Advantages Over a Tiger
When compared to a Tiger, the Lion has the following advantages. Let’s go through each of them one by one.
-
Height
- There is no significant difference in the height but on average the lions stand a bit taller at the shoulder than the tigers.
- This may be of advantage for paw-swipes and disadvantage for attacking the throat.
-
Dominating Attitude
- Living in prides, a lion has a dominant attitude towards other members of his pride. This does not seem like a big advantage, though.
- But we may assume that a lion will charge first in a battle with a tiger and this may give him some advantage.
-
Lion’s Mane
-
- The lion’s mane may give it some protection against attacks on its neck and throat.
- But big cats don’t generally attack the neck straightaway in fights against other cats.
- Secondly, the mane may not be that effective against the long canines of a tiger.
-
Determination
- Tiger retreats if it doesn’t achieve its purpose in the early stages of a confrontation while the lion if it commits to an attack it is far more determined and much harder to shake off.
-
Size
- Lions can grow as big as tigers in captivity and even bigger sometimes.
- This has been considered as the primary reason for the few lion victories in fights between lions and tigers in captivity.
Tiger’s Advantages Over a Lion
When compared to a Lion, the Tiger has the following advantages:
- Size
- Continuing the size discussion, Tigers are generally larger than lions.
- A large tiger can be 100 pounds heavier than a large lion. Tiger weighs 500 pounds more often in the wild while lions rarely cross 500 pounds in the wild.
- When it comes to size an African lion would stand virtually no chance against a huge Siberian tiger in a straight fight however, it may easily handle the smaller tigers the Sumatran and Javan tigers.
- Despite that, we have to keep in mind that size alone is not a decisive factor in a fight.
- Agility
- Tigers are more active, in the wild, and lions are the least active. Tigers are far more agile too than lions.
- This superior agility may give a tiger an important advantage over a lion. As per all historical fights, a tiger has been a better fighter than a lion.
- Strong Hind Legs
- A tiger has very strong hind legs than a lion. It can stand for some time on its hind legs only allowing it to use its front paws to make strong swipes.
- In the documented fights the tiger seemed to gain an advantage for this reason. Both paws swipe of the tiger is way more effective than a single-paw swipe of the lion.
- Tiger uses this footwork a lot for both defense and offense. A lion in comparison has minimal use of the hind legs in a fight.
- Due to these advantages, Tiger seems to be stronger than a lion with much better weaponry such as longer upper canine teeth, greater bite force quotient, much larger paws and claws, and more massively built forelimbs and back limbs.
Who Would Win?
- Now keeping all previously discussed facts in check we conclude that If two healthy wild specimens in their prime and of above-average size are confronted to fight with no escape route there is a greater chance that the tiger would win the fight.
- But In the wild, the tiger will avoid unnecessary fights and may escape from the battleground.
- If the tiger and lion are of approximately the same weight the fight can go either way. One who will fight more aggressively will have a more chance of victory.
- As the respective advantages, they have over each other compensate each other out.
- As a general rule, the bigger animal stands a better chance of winning. The documented fights support this conclusion.
Very inaccurate. Lions and tigers generally average same size and strength. And the documented fights show that both have killed each other in the past. Their bite force is also similar at 1,000 psi. And lions can also stand on hind legs and there are pictures of then doing so. Please be more fair and accurate in your so-called analysis.
Well said This Guy is a bit suggestive towards tiger.
I don’t know how you can state Lions and Tigers are same size and strength when it’s not the case. Documented bite forces are also a lot stronger in Tigers than lions, so I think someone needs to go back and check the records.
A própria National Geographic sempre relatou que os leões possuem uma mordida de 650 psi, enquanto o tigre possui uma pressão de 1000psi, mas nos últimos documentários já ouve correção mostrando que os dois mordem a 1000psi de força. O argumento utilizado foi de que o leão avaliado era bem jovem. Podemos perceber que os leões são muito subestimados frente ao tigre (principalmente o Siberiano). A própria WCS da Rússia relatou que suas pesquisas feitas com tigres siberianos comprovou que os machos tem dificuldades de passar dos 206kg e não possuem esses tamanhos relatados na internet (4 metros e mais de 300kg). Lembrando que os Leões machos podem passar dos 220kg vivendo em climas desérticos e semi-áridos, com escassez de água e comida e predando as maiores presas do mundo. Acredito que a literatura já pode ser atualizada e mudado o título de maior e mais forte felino para quem sempre foi…o Leão.
Well documented battles between the two reported that lions won 60% of the times. Tigers are ambushers, they generally don’t fight. A male adult lion’s only purpose is to fight back over males and predators from the pride, they are literally built to fight. It’s like comparing a 240 pounds man with no complex fighting skills against a smaller man that is a black belt and has much more experience. They compensate fairly good, but lions fight their whole life