Captive Lion and Tiger weights

[LandSeaLion]

I can’t reply directly to Peter’s latest post in the tiger extinction thread, but I wanted to comment on this bit so I’ll do it here:

Quote:Tiger no. 82 in the table is exceptional. The weight (442,4 kg) is reliable, but I don't know if he was very large or a very obese tiger. As he's over 100 kg (221 pounds) heavier than the second heaviest, I decided against using the weight. This, however, doesn't mean it was an imaginary tiger. He's very real. According to 'Betty', who has an extensive database, there are tigers well exceeding 300 kg in Chinese zoos. At least 3 of them are over 400 kg. These exceptional individuals are used for breeding purposes.

I think it is reasonable to assume that 400+ kg tigers would be unhealthy animals. At 442kg, this weight actually makes the tiger heavier than Jaipur, the world-record setting tiger who weighed 423kg at the age of 9:

*This image is copyright of its original author

Jaipur was morbidly obese. As far as I’m aware, no documented healthy captive cat (other than hybrids) has come close to weighing this amount. It’s worth noting that the study that mentioned the 442kg tiger also made these observations about their health-related biomarkers:

Quote:AMY is one of the markers most commonly used for diagnosing pancreatic diseases, especially acute pancreatitis (Vissers et al., 1999). In this study, AMY level ranged from 1910 to 3,000 U L−1 with an average value of 2,563.45 U L−1. The AMY level for most tigers was approximately 3,000 U L−1, which could be interpreted as a sign of disease but was most likely related to a high-fat, high-protein or high-carbohydrate dietary (Grossman et al., 1943; Kondo et al., 1988).

Quote:As the main parameter of the renal function examination, UREA level in this study was extremely high, and the reason for this was similar to that for the high CREA level (Marco et al., 2000). Dehydration, acute haemorrhage and a series of kidney diseases, such as glomerulonephritis and renal failure, could increase CREA and UREA levels. 

Incidentally, this is the largest non-obese cat on (verified) record - a litigon called Cubanacan (born in Alipore zoo in India, 1979), who was estimated to weigh around 800 pounds (363kg) at his largest, based on his measured dimensions (1.32m at the shoulder, 3.5m in total length - 1985 Guinness World Record):

*This image is copyright of its original author

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