Who is the "king" of tigers? - Bengal or Amur

[Pckts]

Whether you are talking about recent amurs or amurs measured in past times, there has never been an amur that has outweighed a bengal at maximum weights.
Skull length may favor the amur but chest girth favors the bengal, hbl is similar with amurs slightly longer on average but bengals longer at maximums, shoulder height slightly favors the bengal. 
Weights pre 1970 favor the amur but with the specimen count only at 10 compared to 120 for bengals, that would most likely bring down the average since you'd have to include smaller specimens and younger with post 1970 favoring the bengal and larger than pre 1970 Amurs. Also take into account the new weights we have after 2015


Per @Kingtheropod 
Body Mass of Bengal tiger in Modern Records: Revised (2017)

Hello everyone, after a wave of new tiger weights, I have decided to make a new revision of the body mass of Bengal tiger in modern records. This list included the weights of 27 male tigers, with a few others not included. The average body weight is 495 lbs (225 kg).

Note: Sundarbans tigers not included.

Chitwan NP, Nepal:
Average 221 kg adjusted. n=7. Range 184-261 kg. Reference: Smith et al., 1983; Sunquist, 1981. These tigers originally averaged 235 kg but they consumed on average 14 kg of meat

Chitwan NP, Nepal:
270+ kg. n=1. Reference: Dinerstein, E. (2003). This animal (M026) exceeded the scale of 270 kg along with Sauraha male (M105). This animals weight of 270 kg's is included.

Nagarahole NP:

Average 217 kg adjusted. n=3. Range 209-227 kg. Reference: Karanth, 1993.

Panna TR
Average 245 kg. n=2. Range 240-250 kg. Reference. Chundawat & Malik, 2010; Pers Comm. 2009. Note: Both these tigers exceeded a scale of 250 kg, but was estimated to weigh about these measurements, M-91's weight was adjusted down due to 10 kg of weighing equipment. The other tiger was Madla who's weight is given as 250 kg.

Panna TR
240 kg. n=1. Reference: Noronha, 2015. Tiger known as "T-3", stated to be 10 years old. Tiger was reintroduced to Panna TR. This was a statement from former field director, Panna tiger reserve, R Sriniwas Murthy.

Panna TR
211.5 kg. n=2. Range 205-218 kg. Reference: Roamin; Pers. Comm. 2016. Two tigers, one known as P212 weighed 190 kg at 4.5 years old, this same animal was stated to have weighed 205 kg's during the winter months. Another unknown male was stated to have weighed 218 kg.  


Sariska TR, India
220 kg. n=1. Reference: Sinha , 2008. This tiger was a young male, said to be three and a half years old. This tiger was also recaptured and estimated to weigh 250 kg when it was older

Kanha NP, India
197 kg. n=1. Reference: 21st Century Tiger, 2014

Kanha NP, India
225+ kg. n=2. Reference: Sinha; Pers. Comm. 2016 & Minha Ha; Pers. Comm. 2016. Tigers named Banda and Konda both exceeded a scale of 225 kg. These tigers where weighed back in October and February of 2007. These animals weights that exceeded scale are included in the final average.

Kanha NP, India
225 kg. n=1. Reference: Vats, 2016. This tiger is the sub adult male named Bheema. He weighed 225 kg at the age of 2.5 years old. He was later estimated to weigh greater then 280 kg's as an adult. This animal is not included in the final average.

Ghunghuti forest range, India
280 kg. n=1. Reference: Indiatoday, 2016. A tiger which terrorised locals was caught and relocated to a enclosure in BTR. The statement came from the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Jitendra Agrawal.

Uttar Pradesh's South Kheri forest
235 kg. n=1. Reference: Singh, 2016. This is the Kheri man-eater transferred to Lucknow Zoo. Animal said to be 4 years old. Treated by Dr. Mayukh Chatterjee

Dudhwa NP, India
210 kg. n=1. Reference: Ahsan; Pers. Comm. 2016. This was a 4 year old problematic male tiger that strayed out of Dudhwa NP.


Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve
185 kg. n=1. Reference: Habib; Pers. Comm. 2015. Tiger named Gabbar, 8 year old male

Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve
197 kg. n=1. Reference: Dhanwatey, 2015. This tiger was a 4 year old problem animal which attacked a farmer and his cattle. This animal had received injuries to its paws and nose, aswell as broken canines. This animal was featured in animal planet series 'Living with Maneaters'.


Ranthambore NP, India
240 kg. n=1. Reference: Khandal; Pers. Comm. 2015. Tiger known as "T-24", This tiger was actually weighed in 2009.

Umred Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary in Nagpur, India
230 kg. n=1. Reference: Karoo; Pers. Comm. 2015. Tiger named Jai. This tiger was stated to weigh between 220 and 238 kg, the weighing scale used had a 18 kg margin of error. This same tiger was also stated to have been weighed a second time, one authority claiming 240 kg's and another stating 215 kg's.

[b][u]Pench NP, India[/b][/u]
225 kg. n=1. Reference: Minha Ha; Pers. Comm. 2016. This tiger is the son of BMW of pench said to be 2.5 years old which died due to poisoning in January of 2016. This animal is not included.


Pench NP, India
200+ kg. n=1. Reference: Majumder, 2012. This tiger exceeded a scale of 200 kg, weight was estimated to be upto 220 kg. Not included in final average.

The average comes to 224.6 kg's (495 lb), n=27


Pre 2016

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In Captivity:
I have read that amurs are the king in captivity, lots of sources have stated this. So I'm inclined to agree but that being said, we cannot really compare pure Bengals to Amurs as they really don't exist outside of india anymore.

We can use White Tigers or N. American Tigers if we like since we know they have Bengal bloodline and those can compare with any Pure Amur's weight. But we don't know if they are true Bengals or Amurs or both or neither, so it's a moot point there.
So in captivity I'd still give the advantage to Amurs but the skeptic in me would want to see pure Bengals living under healthy conditions to say for certain they are bigger or smaller. Maybe it is the shaggy fur and fat reserves Amur's attain that allow them to give the appearance of being larger or maybe they are just larger...


And lastly, not all biologists say "amurs are larger" this is an old theory that many new biologist have began to distance themselves from

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

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