John Varty & Tiger Canyon

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Some captive lions and tigers exceed even 550 pounds, but one has to remember that individuals of that size are quite exceptional. When not obese, a lion or tiger of 550 pounds would dwarf an average-sized adult male big cat. 

Eagleraptor (AVA), a keeper with a lot of experience in the UK, posted photographs of a few very large captive Amur tigers. These animals exceeded 600 pounds, but the average of all captive male Amur tigers would be closer to 450-460 pounds, maybe even a bit less. At that size, most of them would be quite a bit bigger than males of other subspecies.

A century ago, males shot by Dunbar Brander central India averaged 420 pounds. Two of these exceeded 10 feet in total length 'between pegs'. The average could have been a bit higher when the very robust male he mentioned in his book would have been weighed. He also missed a few other big males, but 420 pounds is plenty impressive for me.

In about the same period, male tigers shot, measured and weighed by Hewett in northern India averaged 430-440 pounds. He too wasn't able to weigh most of the large males he shot, but there is no question that tigers in that region were a bit longer and heavier than those in central India.

The male tigers shot, measured and weighed by the Maharajah of Cooch Behar and his guests averaged just over 460 pounds. This average included a number of individuals described as 'gorged'.

Based on what I had, I concluded male tigers in northern India, if all would have been weighed, most probably would have topped the table for both weight and length, whereas Cooch Behar tigers would have taken second place, directly followed by central India. Deccan tigers were clearly smaller, but my guess is tigers from the southwest would have been larger than those in central India.  

All of us assume today's tigers in India could be a bit heavier than a century ago, but this only is an assumption based on pictures of a number of very large individuals. The point to remember is an adult male of 400-450 pounds in good shape is a big animal anywhere. Reply