Captive Lion and Tiger weights

[Ba Ba Lou]

(12-06-2016, 02:48 AM)Pckts I read a book about a big cat trainer name Larry, the book said LARRY"S lions weigh 500 pounds, and his Bengal tigers weigh 550 pounds. Well and 500 lb. African lion LOOKS bigger than a 550 lb Bengal tiger. In BIG CAGE 1933 By Clyde Beatty, Clyde mentions his African lions being bigger than his Bengal tigers. I also read a book that in AMERICAN circuses the average maximum weight of Male Bengal tiger was over 500 lb. But as far as American circuses going to West Bengal to obtain tigers, I don\t think so, 'cause the Sundarbans tiger max weight IN THE WILD is about 350 lb. In CAPTIVITY these tigers I think would max out at the most 450 lb. , the Bengal tigers in American circuses in the late 1800's and early 1900's maxed out at over 500 lb. So PROBABLY American circuses got their bengal tiger from southern India probably near Bombay. In FACING THE BIG CATS 1965 by Clyde Beatty, Beatty says the African lion and Royal Bengal tiger in so many words are about the same size. Most likely during the 1950s and 1960s American circuses started getting their Bengal tigers from another location in India. Another famed tiger trainer Gunther Gebal mentions tigers maxing out at 600 lbs. Gebal trained Bengal and Amur tigers. So the tigers that weigh 600 lbs. that Gebal is talking about are his Amur tigers. Well Beatty had lions that were 550-600 lbs. and a FEW pounds over 600 lb. with one lion being the same size as his LARGEST Amur tiger. Like I said before Simba the largest African lion on record weighed 826 lbs. while Jaipur the Amur tiger weighed well over 1,000 lbs.WAY OF THE TIGER 2001 By K. Ullas KaranthPage 47, Record tigers measured in zoos were often over fed lacked exercise and were merely obese indivduals unlikely to survive in the wild. Conclusion; Captive African lions and Bengal tigers  are about the same size, give or take a few pounds, with captive Amur tigers being the heaviest of all captive big cats. (Not including ligers, I'm talking about pure breeds, not big cat mixes) Wrote:

(12-03-2016, 05:08 AM)Ba Ba Lou Wrote:

(12-02-2016, 07:50 PM)Pckts Wrote:

(12-02-2016, 07:47 AM)Ba Ba Lou Wrote:

(11-30-2016, 01:12 AM)Ba Ba Lou Wrote: Famed big cat trainer Clyde Beatty gives accounts of lions weighing 550 to 600 pounds, then there was Simba a lion weighing a record 826 lbs. Simba did not look very fat either. But Jaipur the Amur tiger is the biggest of all captive big cats. But tiger expert K. Ullas Karanth said record tigers Jaipur's size are fat and obese and would not survive in the wild

pcks.   I have access to all of Beatty's books and Dave Hoover's quotes. Yes from seeing what Clyde is saying, he basically saying is an African lion and a Bengal tiger are about the same size. But he's saying a Amur tiger is the biggest of the big cats, but in this same book  "Facing The Big Cats" Beatty says he had a lion name pharaoh who was just a big as his biggest 
 Amur tiger

But he also only had 3 amurs compared to the 100 or so lions he's had. Also don't forget that the Tigers he had were from Louis Routh, and Roth got his tigers from "Bengal."
What exactly does Hoover have to do with anything?

Well Dave Hoover I believe stated he had big African lions and big Bengal tigers, are you talking about West Bengal or The Bay Of Bengal by chance ? and if Roth got his tigers from Bengal what difference does it make ?

Tigers from "Bengal" are going to be West bengal, Bangladesh, Sunderban Tigers.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Tigers from this area should suffer the similar insular dwarfism that Sunderban tigers suffer from as well, even though it not necessarily being an "island" the territory suffers from severe flooding from tidal shifts.

"The flat and fertile Bangladesh Plain dominates the geography of Bangladesh. The Chittagong Hill Tracts and Sylhet regions are home to most of the mountains in Bangladesh. Most parts of Bangladesh are within 10 metres (33 feet) above the sea level, and it is believed that about 10% of the land would be flooded if the sea level were to rise by 1 metre (3.3 feet).[11] Because of this low elevation, much of this region is exceptionally vulnerable to seasonal flooding due to monsoons. The highest point in Bangladesh is in Mowdok range at 1,052 metres (3,451 feet).[12] A major part of the coastline comprises a marshy jungle, the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world and home to diverse flora and fauna, including the royal Bengal tiger. In 1997, this region was declared endangered.[13]"

They would of had to travel through much harsher terrain to find the larger tiger specimens and it seems that they'd want to go to through the least amount of trouble as possible while still gaining the reward of big cat capture.

"Dense woodlands, including hilly rainforests, cover Bengal's northern and eastern areas; while an elevated forested plateau covers its central area. In the littoral southwest are the Sunderbans, the world's largest mangrove forest and home of the Bengal tiger. In the coastal southeast lies Cox's Bazaar, the longest beach in the world at 125 km (78 mi).[1] The Bengali calendar divides the region's climate into six seasons."

Since West Bengal/Bangladesh are home to the Sunderban Tiger and it's close to port, I'd assume that would be the tiger most commonly captured.

This is my theory on the matter, I don't have doubts that Amurs are large cats in captivity, I've read too many trainers talk about their size compared to indian tigers and lions but I do have doubts about some of the Indian Tigers being used to compare, I wish I still had the link to the conversation on this matter, I can't find it anymore nor can I find the books which quote it. I'll continue to search and see if I can stir them up again.
I'm also not saying that Lions or Indian Tigers can't get as large in captivity, it just isn't as common from what I've read when comparing the 3.

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