# Tiger vs. Wolf: Who wins? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 24, 2004, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-vs-wolf-who-wins/281456 "2004-12-24T07:34:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-vs-wolf-who-wins/281456/41 "2004-12-25T12:28:57Z")
- - - I’d say the tiger would whoop ass, but then, as already noted–an adult northern-range tiger would weigh about four times as much as a big wolf. - Cats are generally better predators because of the fact that they have recurve claws. They will generally try to crush teh neck of the victim, but if they can’t do that then they will attack by grabbing on with their mouth and front paws, and then kicking into the victims abdomen with their rear claws. It is instinctive, and even domestic housecats will do it when they fight. Dogs do not have this option, and so can’t do nearly as much damage as fast. - _Leopards_ are much smaller than tigers, sized much closer to wolves–which would seem to be a more even match–except that leopards are said by big-game hunters to be the smartest cats _by far_. - Incidentally, mountain lions and wolves co-habitate in may places, but they are not considered to be real significant predators of each other. But even so–it is not unusual for a 150-lb mountain lion to kill a 750-lb elk. I’d bet that a single adult wolf would probably not be able to do that. Among land animals, mountain lions have the largest prey-to-predator ratio of all. We might suppose that wolves stick together at least _partly_ to avoid being eaten by mountain lions. * * * …And anyway, didn’t the Romans settle all these questions way back when? Aren’t there any surviving records? ~ ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-vs-wolf-who-wins/281456/42 "2004-12-25T12:36:33Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > Do you guys not get the surprisingly interesting Discovery Channel show [Animal Face-off](http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/animalfaceoff/animalfaceoff.html), where they make steel and computer models of animals and then pit them against each other? They had a Siberian Tiger up against a Grizzly Bear - I think the tiger won, but it was a good challenge. If a tiger can beat a bear, it would have no problem with a lone wolf. No. ☹ I kept wanting the tiger to win, but the damn bear kicked its ass. If I remember correctly it broke the tiger’s spine with a single swipe of its paw. Every damn time the tiger fought it got beaten. Grrr. ---
**Author:** ![ReaperMort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbe5ce/32.png) [@ReaperMort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReaperMort)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-vs-wolf-who-wins/281456/43 "2004-12-25T18:18:15Z")
> [@Martin Hyde](#): > > … > > I don’t think an elephant would have great difficulty killing a tiger. In her book,“The Tribe Of Tiger”, Elizabeth Marshall Thomas tells about a lion that accidently found himself surrounded by elephants. The lion felt the only way out was to attack one of the elephants and, “…leaping at the nearest elephant,he clung to her head.She plucked him off,dashed him to the ground,and killed him…” Not a tiger I know, but I do not see the outcome being any different. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-vs-wolf-who-wins/281456/44 "2004-12-25T19:37:25Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > No. ☹ > I kept wanting the tiger to win, but the damn bear kicked its ass. > If I remember correctly it broke the tiger’s spine with a single swipe of its paw. > Every damn time the tiger fought it got beaten. > Grrr. Dang it - I’m a victim of wishful remembering. Did you see the gorilla vs. leopard? No contest at all - gorilla with its jackhammer arm did the same as the bear - one swipe, and the leopard was done. (By the way, cougars kick ass.) ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-vs-wolf-who-wins/281456/45 "2004-12-25T21:06:58Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > Man, it’s not even close. A Tiger can weigh almost 700 pounds. Tigers have claws they use as weapons. A Tiger would kill a wolf in one swipe. > > I don’t think three wolves could kill a big tiger. I’m not even sure a pack of wolves could. > > Animals in the tiger’s class would be Grizzly bears, maybe a Silverback Gorilla, a couple of other animals. BIG animals. Supreme predators. Wolves aren’t even in the same ballpark. Or elephants. Supreme Vegetarians. 😛 Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-vs-wolf-who-wins/281456/46 "2004-12-25T22:46:46Z")
So… This isn’t about Tiger Woods vs. Wolf Blitzer? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-vs-wolf-who-wins/281456/47 "2004-12-26T00:20:33Z")
> [@KRC](#): > > I doubt a wolf could take a tiger, but there have been cases of wolves killing mountain lions, according to this site: > > [Areas Containing Populations Of Large, Wide-ranging Carnivores | Spirit One](http://www.spiritone.com/~brucem/icbexcar.htm) > > (Scroll down to about the 6th or 7th paragraph.) And I know of at least one case where a 60 year old man who was ambushed by a couger managed to kill it with a pocket knife. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-vs-wolf-who-wins/281456/48 "2004-12-26T00:40:05Z")
Anyone seen that video of the officer who tries to restrain a kitty cat, _on a leash_ no less? :smack: It’s an excellent demonstration of why felines are such formidible foes. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-vs-wolf-who-wins/281456/49 "2004-12-26T00:42:45Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Anyone seen that video of the officer who tries to restrain a kitty cat, _on a leash_ no less? :smack: > It’s an excellent demonstration of why felines are such formidible foes. Got a link? That sure sounds interesting… Why on earth was a cop trying to restrain a kitty cat anyways? Was it perhaps not so much a kitty cat as a big cat or a wild cat? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-vs-wolf-who-wins/281456/50 "2004-12-26T00:51:58Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > Got a link? > That sure sounds interesting… > Why on earth was a cop trying to restrain a kitty cat anyways? > Was it perhaps not so much a kitty cat as a big cat or a wild cat? I’ve been trying to find it. It was going around a while back. I think the “victim” was an animal control officer. Regular ol’ house cat, though. It’s pretty funny if you can restrain your sympathy for the guy. I did, mostly. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-vs-wolf-who-wins/281456/51 "2004-12-26T05:03:39Z")
Have you wolf fans ever seen a tiger up close? Within a few feet of you? I have, as a child in a zoo summer camp here, and let me tell you, that thing is a lot bigger than you think it is. A _lot_. Fido dosen’t stand a chance alone, and for me to vote for the wolf as a pack it would have to be a very big pack and very advantageous circumstances for the wolves. The tiger is a death and sex machine. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-vs-wolf-who-wins/281456/52 "2004-12-26T08:08:06Z")
Man I thought Animal Face-Off was a horrible show. The tests they did had nothing at all to do with the animals. A mechanical elephant could smash a car? Well, an elephant could probably do that, but how does a metal thing on treads prove that? Oh, and tiger hands down. I’m fairly certain a lion would kill a tiger. I remember reading eports of actual fights, and since lions and tigers go for the throats, the manes on the lions proved to be a deciding factor. I don’t recall reading anything about a bear versus a ger or lion, but I also read accounts of a ar versus a bull. I guess a bear can kill a bull rather easily due to higher bone density and powerful strikes to the bull’s head. Sorry, no cites. ---
**Author:** ![Chotii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@Chotii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chotii)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-vs-wolf-who-wins/281456/53 "2004-12-26T09:47:03Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally Posted by **ShibbOleth** > > \*And Sherkhan was an old, somewhat lame tiger who had taken to attacking livestock, which is against the Law of the Jungle. > > I think Shere Khan was always lame (Lungri, his mother called him, “Lame One”), and he was not depicted as old, I don’t think–just evil, lazy and merciless. > > Also, attacking man was almost always against the law of the jungle (except for one night, which was the tiger’s right!): I’m not clear on how he became lame, but I seem to remember he was born lame. And even lame, he managed to grow to full size, hunting adequately to support his large mass. > [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Quote: The Law of the Jungle, which never orders anything without a reason, forbids every beast to eat Man except when he is killing to show his children how to kill… > > But it was OK to kill cattle. In fact, Bagheera bought Mowgli’s life by giving the indifferent pack a bull he had killed and hidden close by (much to Shere Khan’s anger): > > > [@](#): > > > > Quote: > > “To kill a naked cub is shame. Besides, he may make better sport for you when he is grown. Baloo has spoken in his behalf. Now to Baloo’s word I will add one bull, and a fat one, newly killed, not half a mile from here, if ye will accept the man’s cub according to the Law. Is it difficult?” Yes, but this ‘bull’ could have been a water buffalo or other very large wild antelope. What is a male Sambur called, after all? ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-vs-wolf-who-wins/281456/54 "2004-12-26T12:55:58Z")
> [@Chotii](#): > > I’m not clear on how he became lame, but I seem to remember he was born lame. And even lame, he managed to grow to full size, hunting adequately to support his large mass. Yep. That was my point. > [@](#): > > Yes, but this ‘bull’ could have been a water buffalo or other very large wild antelope. What is a male Sambur called, after all? Well, I always pictured a “fat bull” as cattle, but of course, the text is less than conclusive. But even if it’s not, that still wouldn’t make killing cattle against the law of the jungle, right? Or am I forgetting that part? ---
**Author:** ![Khan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3ab097/32.png) [@Khan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khan)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-vs-wolf-who-wins/281456/55 "2004-12-26T13:14:36Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Tigers can kill anything they want. They bite off heads \*all \*the time and don’t even think twice about it. These guys are so crazy and awesome that they flip out \*all \* the time. I heard that there was this tiger who was eating his dinner and when some monkey dropped a banana, the tiger killed the whole jungle. I love tigers with all of my body (including my pee pee). ---
**Author:** ![Chotii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@Chotii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chotii)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-vs-wolf-who-wins/281456/56 "2004-12-26T18:20:58Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > Yep. That was my point.Well, I always pictured a “fat bull” as cattle, but of course, the text is less than conclusive. But even if it’s not, that still wouldn’t make killing cattle against the law of the jungle, right? Or am I forgetting that part? As far as I know, it is against the law of the jungle to kill man. But it would be foolish to kill man’s animals when there is a jungle full of wild prey (and the jungle animals were disdainful, IIRC, of Sher Khan for killing domestic animals). After all, man is protective of his animals, and while a maneater would bring out the white men on elephants, with beaters and torches…one that’s killing domestic animals might still bring out the guns. It would be a dangerous thing. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-vs-wolf-who-wins/281456/57 "2004-12-26T20:12:33Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Have you wolf fans ever seen a tiger up close? Within a few feet of you? I have, as a child in a zoo summer camp here, and let me tell you, that thing is a lot bigger than you think it is. A _lot_. Fido dosen’t stand a chance alone, and for me to vote for the wolf as a pack it would have to be a very big pack and very advantageous circumstances for the wolves. The tiger is a death and sex machine. Fido? Never seen a wolf up close, huh? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-vs-wolf-who-wins/281456/58 "2004-12-27T00:38:07Z")
Well the metal models and such of the animals is the only way to effectively show the power of a wild animal. If we have measured that say an average grizzly bear will deliver 900 psi of force (no clue how hard a bear actually hits) in one blow then if we build a mechanical claw with similar shaped claws that delivers the same force then we’d be able to sort of proximate that to show what a bear could do. Also on bull versus bear, I think it would all depend on where the fight happened and how. If the bear enraged the bull and the bull charged at the bear in the open field, and the bear was unable to effectively dodge, then one full force blow would probably be the end for the bear because it would be horribly gored and down on the ground. The bull would then trample him incessantly til it was dead (bulls are well muscled animals, and even a medium sized bull is larger than the largest grizzlies ever recorded.) If the bear was going after a bull as a predator, or in the woods, no challenge, bears as large as they are probably wouldn’t have the hardest time in the world gaining an advantageous angle of attack vs. a bull. In real live situations I’d say a bear would win 99% of the time if we’re talking about a brown bear (grizzly, kodiak), or polar bears, for black bear the bull may have a better percentage (still probably 70%+ in the bears favor.) The aurochs would probably stand a better chance if they were still around. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-vs-wolf-who-wins/281456/59 "2004-12-27T04:18:09Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Fido? > Never seen a wolf up close, huh? 😉 Well, it’s not like they’re at all the same animal, but a wolf is about the same size and armament as some dogs. A tiger is not the same size as Fluffy. (Your Fluffy may vary.) ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-vs-wolf-who-wins/281456/60 "2004-12-27T05:06:11Z")
I sure wish I could find that stupid video I saw. According to a PBS story, a cheetah won’t fight hardly _anything_. They are pretty small, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-vs-wolf-who-wins/281456.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-vs-wolf-who-wins/281456.md?page=4)