How to distinguish canines from cats!

The two most powerful cats recognized in the world are lions and tigers. But which one is better than them? Everyone is interested in this issue and has different opinions. Let's talk about it in detail today.

There are many tiger subspecies in the world, such as South China Tiger, Northeast Tiger, Bengal Tiger, Sumatra Tiger and Indian Tiger. Among them, the Siberian tiger is the largest, and the adult male tiger can reach 3.3 meters in length and weigh more than 300 kilograms. I remember reading a piece of information that the largest tiger was captured in the former Soviet Union and Central Asia, with a body length of 4 meters and a weight of 780 kilograms, twice that of ordinary liger! So in terms of size, tigers are the biggest cats.

At present, there are only two main subspecies of lions: African lions and Indian lions. Pumas are often blamed on bobcats. Pumas are the biggest cats. They belong to the same genus and are more closely related to our domestic cats. Among them, Indian lions are small in size and almost extinct in number. We often see African lions. Adult African lions are generally 2.3-2.7 meters long and weigh about 250 kilograms.

Because the size of animals usually determines their strength, the absolute strength of adult Siberian tigers is stronger than that of most African lions. In appearance, they all have terrible fangs and sharp teeth. They are characterized by strong jaws, cracked teeth and great strength when biting, which can be used to kill large animals. On the other hand, lions, especially lions, have exaggerated heads and faces because of their manes, but their bodies are thinner; Tigers are vigorous, but their heads are a little delicate. African lions look fierce, because they have a mane, so their vision is particularly large, but their hunting skills are poor and their endurance and speed are also lacking. The mighty tiger has similar long hair as an adult, with long hair on his face and neck, and his appearance is not inferior to that of a lion. Moreover, from the perspective of individual hunting skills, tigers have both strength and speed, can swim in trees, and have a high success rate in hunting alone. Lions fight in groups, and the efficiency of female lions is much higher than that of male lions. Bodybuilders' muscles are very, very strong, but when China scientists dissected the Northeast Tiger, they found that when its muscles were opened, they were even more beautiful and strong than the muscles of the best bodybuilders. Muscle fibers are unusually thick, and little excess fat is found, and almost no fat is seen. Strong bones accompanied by strong muscles prove that this animal is extremely explosive. The explosive power of the tiger has been shown. There is a crack on the concrete floor of the Lion Tiger Mountain Animal Hall in Beijing Zoo that was scratched by the Northeast Tiger. Peeling liger is strikingly similar, but it is found from anatomy that the heart capacity of a tiger is larger than that of an African lion.

The different geographical environment determines the different fighting methods and strategies of lions and tigers. On the vast plain, it is suitable to exert the strength of the group, lock the target and wait for the opportunity. In the jungle, prey is easy to dodge, hide and escape, which requires high individual combat skills. Lions are strategists and tigers are tacticians.

Because lions and tigers don't live in the same geographical environment, it seems difficult to compete, just like Guan Gong and Qin Qiong in cross talk. In the west, the lion has always been called the king of beasts; In China, the king of animals is the tiger. It is said that in ancient Rome, people used to let lions and tigers perform fighting performances in the arena. As a result, the tiger beats the lion every time. Scientists in the former Soviet Union once tried to make two hungry same-sex adults compete with each other, and the tiger won. Some geographers and zoologists believe that there were lions in ancient Yunnan. But why is it gone now? The tiger drove the lion out of the mountain forest with comfortable and convenient living conditions, and drove it to the deserts and grasslands in northwest India, Arabia and Africa and suffered from displacement. Geographically speaking, tigers are based in Siberia and spread all over Eurasia until the South Asian subcontinent, developing into Bengal tiger subspecies, Caucasian tiger subspecies and South China tiger subspecies, and only the sea prevents them from entering America. Some individuals crossed the South China Sea, entered the Indonesian archipelago, and developed into a subspecies of Sumatra Lahu. From extreme cold to extreme heat, tigers show tenacious adaptability. Tigers act alone, and only in the breeding season do males and females get together for a few days, and females raise their cubs independently. It shows that the tiger's survival ability is stronger than that of the lion. African lions entered the Arabian Peninsula from the northern part of the African continent, the second largest in South Asia. There was a game between liger in Indian history. Although there is no written record, the lion finally retreated to the northwest corner of India (known as the Asian lion), and the Bengal tiger spread all over South Asia and Southeast Asia is the final result.

Tigers choose Northeast Tiger as the representative, and sometimes mention Indian Tiger-Bengal Tiger and Chinese Tiger-South China Tiger; Lions are represented by African lions.

Compare body shape and weight first.

The Northeast Tiger is the largest tiger, slightly larger than the African lion. According to the data, the largest cat in existence is the Siberian tiger hunted by the former Soviet Union in Central Asia. It is male, 5 meters long (not counting its tail) and weighs 760 kilograms, twice as much as the ordinary Siberian tiger or African lion.

Bengal tiger ranks second, slightly smaller than African lion. The Bengal tiger weighs 300 kilograms and is 3 meters long.

The South China Tiger is small, with a body length of 2.5 meters and a weight of 200-250 kg. But the temper is the most violent.

African lion: Male weighs 350-400kg and is 3.5m long.

Then compare the predation skills with their position in the food chain.

The Siberian tiger has the highest predation skill among all cats, because its habitat is cold and harsh, and there are few wild animals, so it can't bear the failure of predation. Northeast tigers are at the undisputed peak in the local food chain. Their prey includes all herbivores and carnivores, large and violent herbivores such as red deer and Asian wild boar. Asian brown bears, leopards, Asian black bears, wolves, raccoons, badgers, foxes and other carnivores. Because leopards and tigers have the same food, they are absolutely not allowed to exist in the tiger's territory, so the chance of preying on leopards is very small, but some data show that leopard hair is found in the feces of Northeast tigers. Although the Asian brown bear is huge, it is no match for the Northeast Tiger. There are many records of male brown bears being attacked by tigers. Black bears are worse. Black bears that hibernate in winter are often dug out of their holes by tigers, and even have no chance to resist. In North Asia, the number of wolves is very small, generally no more than seven, so we can only avoid tigers. Of course, there are also many rumors that the wild boar defeated the Northeast Tiger, but the wild boar is the defensive side, and it is victory if it is not killed. There are too few records that can kill the Siberian tiger. Moreover, the injured tigers are generally old, disabled (lacking canine teeth) or young tigers, unable to prey on other wild animals, so they have to attack the male wild boar with strong fighting capacity. Because the Northeast Tiger (called the Northeast Tiger in China) is far away from human living areas, the Northeast Tiger will generally take the initiative to avoid human beings and not provoke strange things.

Bengal tigers and South China tigers are relatively rich in wild animals and overlap with humans, so the success rate of predation is not as good as that of Northeast tigers, but they are the most dangerous to humans. The South China Tiger has the most experience against human beings. South China Tiger is unique to China. It has struggled with China people for 2000 years, and it has the richest skills in how to attack and evade, so it is in the most dangerous situation. In 1950s and 1960s, China killed the South China Tiger on a large scale, and now it is a more dangerous and precious species than the giant panda. The record holder for killing the most people is the Bengal tiger in India, which is related to the quality of Indians and the local environment. Among the local carnivores, jackals pose a threat to Bengal tigers and South China tigers. Jackals are not as aggressive as wolves, but there are more groups than wolves, and there is no racial distinction. Different jackals will cooperate to attack tigers and leopards. In India, 20 jackals attacked an adult female Bengal tiger. In the first confrontation, the tiger killed seven jackals and injured six, destroying the attack power of jackals. However, the remnant jackals immediately summoned another jackal group in the neighboring territory-26 jackals to join the attack on the tiger. In the second resistance, the tiger killed four and wounded two, and began to run away. The jackals chased for 40 kilometers, and the third small jackal group joined the interception. Finally, nearly 40 jackals killed the Bengal tiger. The tiger ate half of it and finally killed seven jackals in the battlefield. There is another legend in China that the jackal is the bane of the tiger. But Asian elephants, Asian rhinoceroses and bison are no match for Bengal tigers. Adult male Asian elephants can protect themselves, but they will never attack tigers. Contrary to African elephants, female Asian elephants can't resist Bengal tigers.

African lions have poor predation ability and can only ambush in groups. They only attack African elephants, rhinoceroses and bison when there is no escape in the dry season. Generally, more than 65,438 African lions gather together to divide the elephant. The females harass behind the elephants and bison, and the males attack head-on. Few lions fight with each other. African lions can't survive by themselves. Old lions expelled by lions are usually killed by dogs or tricolor. ? Dogs are revenge, and three-color jackals are killers-tactics are very similar to Asian jackals. The African lions that suffered the most were the lions when the railway was built. This 6-7 * * * pride killed more than 200 worker ants (by mistake) and was finally eliminated, leaving only two lactating cubs to be sent to the zoo.

Compare hardware such as teeth and claws.

The size of canine teeth is almost the same as the hardness of jaws; The claws are quite sharp. However, some scholars admire the explosive power of the tiger. There is a crack on the concrete floor of the Lion Tiger Mountain Animal Hall in Beijing Zoo that was scratched by the Northeast Tiger. Peeled liger is strikingly similar and almost indistinguishable. Anatomically, it is found that the heart capacity of tigers is larger than that of African lions.

The result of liger's meeting in nature.

Based in Siberia, Siberian tigers spread all over Eurasia until the South Asian subcontinent, and developed into Bengal tiger subspecies, Caucasian tiger subspecies and South China tiger subspecies. Only the sea prevented them from entering America. Some individuals crossed the South China Sea, entered the Indonesian archipelago, and developed into a subspecies of Sumatra Lahu. From extreme cold to extreme heat, tigers show tenacious adaptability. Tigers act alone, and only in the breeding season do males and females get together for a few days, and females raise their cubs independently. It shows that tigers are more viable than African lions.

African lions entered the Arabian Peninsula and the South Asian subcontinent from the African continent to the north. Historically, there was a match between liger and India. Although there is no written record, African lions retreated to the northwest corner of India (called Asian lions), and Bengal tigers spread all over South Asia and Southeast Asia. This is the final result.

Rare tiger species in China

The most legendary is China Hei Hu, also known as Blue Tiger. Missionaries found it in Xiyuan (the same place as China Elk) in the late Qing Dynasty, and then bribed the guards to get two pieces of black and blue tiger skins. However, it has not been able to obtain a living body, and it is considered to be a variant in royal captivity. With the extinction of elk in China, the existence of black and blue tigers is not recognized. However, in the 1970s, a farmer found a blue-green adult tiger in the Ming Tombs in the suburbs of Beijing, and two blue-green tiger cubs were found in Miyun Mountain in the suburbs of Beijing in the late 1970s. This shows that after nearly 70 years of war, the blue-green tiger population in Beijing has been preserved, which is really unbelievable. Unfortunately, I haven't heard the follow-up news of Black Blue Tiger. Local mountaineers think that Hei Hu is the patron saint of Ming and Qing tombs, which adds mystery.