None of the zoo, specialist group or research sources behind this article records a fight between a Bengal tiger and a lion, so this article names no winner. The IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group does compare the two on size: it calls the tiger the largest living cat species but notes that subspecies differ in size and that large lions can be bigger than smaller tigers.
Weights and lengths for each cat
The IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group’s tiger page lists weight as 75 to 325 kg and body length as 150 to 230 cm, and its lion page lists 110 to 272 kg and 137 to 250 cm. For Bengal tigers specifically, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance calls them the second-largest tiger subspecies; males, it says, can be as long as 10.5 feet (3.2 m) and as heavy as 650 pounds (295 kg).
On the lion side, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance gives male lions a weight of 330 to 570 pounds (150 to 260 kilograms). Smithsonian’s National Zoo gives female lions a length of 9 feet (2.7 meters) and a weight of 265 to 395 pounds.
Build and weapons
According to the IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group, tigers evolved to hunt large ungulates efficiently, with a relatively big skull, formidable canines and a powerful build. The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s tiger page describes a large hunter that is well-muscled and swift, with canine teeth 1 to 2 inches long and claws 3 to 4 inches long.
On the lion side, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance says a thick mane also protects the neck against raking claws in fights with other males, whether over territory disputes or breeding rights. Smithsonian’s National Zoo adds that lion and tiger bodies are so similar without their coats that only experts can tell them apart.
A solitary tiger and a lion pride
Tigers are generally solitary, according to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, apart from a female caring for her cubs, and they maintain a home range that can run to several square miles. A lion pride, it says, can hold 3 to 30 lions. It is made up of lionesses, described as mothers, sisters and cousins, together with their cubs and a few unrelated adult males.
On prey, the IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group says tigers can kill prey much larger than themselves, among them large bovids such as water buffalo. It says male lions on their own are efficient hunters that typically take on large prey such as buffalo and giraffe.
Where each cat lives
The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance places Bengal tigers in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, in forests and wetlands. Smithsonian’s National Zoo says lions now live only in Africa, with one exception: a small population of the Indian lion subspecies still found in the Gir Forest of northwest India.
Sources
- IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group: Living Species – Tiger | IUCN CatSG
- IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group: Living Species – Lion | IUCN CatSG
- San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance: Tiger | San Diego Zoo Animals & Plants
- San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance: Lion | San Diego Zoo Animals & Plants
- Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute: Lion
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B (author copy hosted by the University of Tennessee): Bite club: comparative bite force in big biting mammals and the prediction of predatory behaviour in fossil taxa