Grizzly bears - the ultimate carnivore:

Almost all queries received on this topic request answers to the lion versus tiger question. Oddly, few people simply ask which is considered the Ultimate Carnivore.

This honour is held by an animal the tiger does not often have encounter; it is the grizzly bear.

The grizzly bear is a poor predator, taking down a caribou only when the opportunity arises. This, however, shifted his evolution in favour of the job in hand, namely as a digger of hard barren ground for roots, tubers and den building. The grizzly bear subsequently evolved enormous bone and muscle density; roughly ten times our own for a given size. They have developed into huge and enormously powerful animals.

Big cat biology is very different. They have evolved powerful elastic muscles over a low weight, low density bone structure to suit their purpose of chasing down prey.

Grizzly bear pit fights:

The Californians of the late 19th century staged well-documented pit fights with grizzlies and spanish bulls. The grizzlies, using their paw as a club, shattered the unfortunate bull's skull or shoulder bones so easily that the betting became poor.

Eventually, and at considerable cost, African lions were brought in to raise the stakes. The most fierce of the adult males was sent in whilst the grizzly was already waiting in the pits. The lion was known for bravely charging straight in and looked good for the money, but the grizzly killed a male lion almost as easily as he'd killed the bull.

The Californians never understood why. We now know that it was enormously strong bone density meeting a low density skull. At a range of 4 feet the blow crashed in before the lion could apply the wind pipe lock, which is lion and tiger learnt behaviour for taking down prey animals.

The ferocity of this animal easily matches that of an unsettled African lion.

The polar bear:

There is obviously no way tigers and polar bears can conflict, however comments regarding the grizzly usually lead to inevitable questions about the power of the polar bear.

The polar bear is a larger, but less robust creature than other bears.

Compared to the grizzly, it has a thinner, longer and more delicate skull, along with narrower forequarters. This streamlining is an adaptation for an aquatic life style.

The grizzly has a shorter, thicker neck, heavily built skull and more powerful shoulder structure. Despite being a good foot shorter, the grizzly has a trump card.

Their claws, having evolved as digging tools,  are also unmatched at opening body carcasses. Claws of 6" aren't uncommon (9" record) while the polar bear has small hook-like 2" claws.

Sometimes, when the ice melts, polar bears have been known to be driven off by grizzlies, when they move south into the grizzlies feeding area. A grizzly will defend his barren ground patches jealously as he races to pile on enough fat for the end of summer denning.   

Interspecies Conflict - Page 1&2: How Likely Are Lion/Tiger Encounters? | 3: Fight Rituals |
4,5&6: Historic Fights | 7: Modern Lions & Tigers | 8: Size Comparisons | 9&10: Bears | 11: Snakes & Crocs
| 12: A Game -- The Crocodile Challenge | 13: The Ultimate Carnivore | 14: Feedback

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Photography With Thanks To The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Milo Burcham (Photos 1&2)
Ralf Schmode (Photo 3)
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