Who would win in a fight between a tiger and a lion?
Lions and tigers co-existed in many parts of India until the end of the 19th century, but today Asiatic lions are restricted to the Gir Forest in Gujarat State of western India—an ecosystem without tigers. A controversial proposal to translocate Gir lions to Kuno Palpur in Madhya Pradesh has been delayed, partly because of fears that tigers living in Kuno would kill the incoming lions. Only a few 19th century reports are available of wild lions fighting with wild tigers, and it is unclear if one species regularly defeated the other. Many fights were staged between captive lions and tigers during the first decades of the 20th century, and some of these are posted on YouTube. However, the outcomes are difficult to interpret because so little information is available about the contestants (e.g., sex, age and prior experience). Several clips show fights pitting a subadult or female tiger against a full-grown male lion; others show subadult male lions against adult tigers. The following sho
