Estimate weights on animals. - Printable Version

Estimate weights on animals. - Printable Version

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RE: Estimate weights on animals. - Pckts - 10-12-2016

(10-12-2016, 10:24 PM)Pantherinae Wrote: Still the variation in human weight's are greater than any other spicies and can't be compared to any other spicies. Like a man at 55 kg and 600 kg, is only humans.

Only problem I have with this 380 kg tiger and other extreame hunting records is that we don't see anything even close to that today. I know that animals in the past where probably bigger than today, but when I see large males like Madla, Jay and this massive male sunquist weighed are over 100 kg+ lighter, I struggle to buy it, no doubt that they get bigger, but there is a limit! And imo it's before 380 kg. arround 300 kg, but again thats my opinion!

Your 600kg number is an extreme obesity occurrence, it's statistically pointless.
Humans are between 120lb to 400lb depending on their height and morphology. (freak specimens exist just like any other species)
Bears, Big Cats, Bovines, Ungulates in general and so on all easily run the gamut seen in humans.

In regards to what we see today.... We don't see anything today to be honest. We have obtained 3-4 new weights in the past 15 years with no body measurements or real info on scales used or procedure.
Look through Peters N. India tigers taken through out history, yes they are hunting records but they are still extremely reliable. Many weights may not be present but you can get a very good idea of their size when comparing body measurements.
In those cats, there are few in the 300kg area or close and by no way am I saying the 380kg mark is common. But its still with in the realm of possibility for tigers, its not like we can put this imaginary cap on big cats because we don't see it often.

Last is this, how many actual big, prime male tigers have actually been weighed compared to how many actually exist?
I'm sure the % is minuscule, likely less than 5 % so I am not willing to say we know the largest and that is the ones captured by us. Its extremely hard to capture tigers, its even harder to dictate which ones you capture and even harder to find the big boys who have become human savvy and avoid being spotted. They don't get that size by being noticed, yes some locations can be hunted to extinction but that isn't the case anymore and I see no reason why the big cats of then wont show themselves now if the protection is there.

RE: Estimate weights on animals. - Apollo - 10-12-2016

(10-12-2016, 08:40 PM)Pckts Wrote: The maximum Bengal tiger weight is 380kg or so, the maximum verified is 272kg bottomed out scale. Or use the bottomed out 227kg sunquist number if you want, there are still weights that surpass it from maharajah days but too many people have individual criteria they need to meet before they are willing to accept it.

But maximums don't exist, for every random big male that is captured and weighed there are 50 that aren't.

857 pound tiger is in Guinness book of records, it was measured by officials from Indian Government after official conference in the presence of forest authorities, approved by India forestry department, confirmed by Dr.Henry, curator of mammals at US Museum. They used sugar mill scale to weigh the tiger.

*This image is copyright of its original author

RE: Estimate weights on animals. - Pantherinae - 10-12-2016

Wow thanks @Apollo. Cool stuff and it's actually not that either! Well sure is interesting! The tiger pictured sure is big!

RE: Estimate weights on animals. - Vodmeister - 01-11-2017

Generally speaking, my rule of thumb is that the absolute maximum possible weight in the wild is 70% greater than the average weight of an adult male.

In other words,

The average Kodiak bear is 1,000 lbs, the absolute largest may be up to 1,700 lbs.
The average Bengal tiger is 485 lbs, the absolute maximum may be up to 825 lbs.
The average African lion is 420 lbs, the absolute biggest may be 714 lbs.

I know that a 700 pound lion or 800 pound tiger may seem like an enormous stretch, but I feel that if they still had a population of >100,000 in the wild, there would be a freak individual of that size occurring naturally. Humans have killed off the giants of these species.

RE: Estimate weights on animals. - Polar - 01-12-2017

Welcome back, @Vodmeister!

I do agree with your presumption, but only for certain species such as carnivores and humans (we are very widely varied). There shouldn't be a significant size difference ratio in herbivores, due to the fact that there is extreme male-to-male competition in all of their genuses.

For example, a population of 1000 tigers (400-pounds average) might have 5-12 tigers that are exceptionally large (600-800 pounds), or roughly 50% to nearly twice as heavy.

A population of 1000 gaur (2000-pounds average) might have 2 males that are exceptionally large (2400-3000 pounds), less than 50% more than average weight. Due to extremely intense male-to-male competition, the exceptional weight range maximum is less than what it is in tigers.

Same with a large population of large male bears, the largest isn't necessarily much larger than the average, but simply large enough to overcome the intense male-to-male competition, which is what made bears extremely large in the first place (along with more protein).

I guess larger animals are simply less varied in weight than smaller animals.

RE: Estimate weights on animals. - Vodmeister - 01-12-2017

(01-11-2017, 11:55 PM)Polar Wrote: Welcome back, @Vodmeister!

Thanks Polar. I've been quite busy in life but recently I have found some peace and freetime.

I agree that my rule of thumb varies enormously, but I was talking mainly about felines and bears.

Among crocodiles for instance, the average saltwater crocodile is about 1,000 lbs heavy and 15 ft long, but the largest ones can be over 2,900 lbs. 190% heavier than average. This is mostly because crocs grow for life.

About your gaur assessment, I'm not too sure. I've heard that the largest gaur can weigh up to 1,500 kg (Smith, A. T., Xie, Y. (eds.), 2008). Not sure how reliable this figure is, but if the average gaur is nearly a tonne, it's not an enormous stretch to suggest that the absolute biggest may be 50% larger.

RE: Estimate weights on animals. - Polar - 01-12-2017

However, the largest polar bear (Kotzebue specimen) was found to be a ton in weight, near twice as more than the average weight. There are plenty of specimens that were weighted at 1600-pounds as well.

This proves that, even in a species with intense male-to-male competition, large carnivores still vary more in weights than herbivores within a given population.

RE: Estimate weights on animals. - Vodmeister - 01-12-2017

(01-12-2017, 12:25 AM)Polar Wrote: This proves that, even in a species with intense male-to-male competition, large carnivores still vary more in weights than herbivores within a given population.

I wonder if this is because the weight of carnivores depends a lot more on the individual success of each specimen, whereas herbivores all eat about the same barring a major food drought.

The largest population of Polar bears are from Fox Basin by the way, they average 582 kg.

RE: Estimate weights on animals. - brotherbear - 01-12-2017

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Ice-free_Foxe_Basin

Apparently, Foxe Basin has a rich supply of food resources for polar bears. Quote: This area is one of the most biologically rich and diverse areas of the Canadian Arctic, supporting colonies of bearded seals and the largest walrus herd in Canada. It is a summering area for bowhead, beluga and narwhal whales.

RE: Estimate weights on animals. - Vodmeister - 02-07-2017

I'm just going to give an instinctual answer this time

Tiger: 850 lbs (385 kg)
Lion: 700 lbs (320 kg)
Jaguar: 350 lbs (160 kg)
Cougar: 265 lbs (120 kg)
Leopard: 220 lbs (100 kg)

Gaur: 3,300 lbs (1,500 kg)
Water Buffalo: 2,650 lbs (1,200 kg)
Bison: 2,650 lbs (1,200 kg)
Cape Buffalo: 2,200 lbs (1,000 kg)

Polar Bear: 2,200 lbs (1,000 kg)
Brown Bear: 1,700 lbs (770 kg)
Black Bear: 880 lbs (400 kg)

Gorilla: 510 lbs (230 kg)

White Rhino: 8,000 lbs (3,600 kg)
Indian Rhino: 7,000 lbs (3,200 kg)
Hippopotamus: 7,000 lbs (3,200 kg)

African Elephant: 22,000 lbs (10,000 kg)

Saltwater Crocodile: 4,400 lbs (2,000 kg)
Great White Shark: 7,000 lbs (3,200 kg)