Lions Versus Tigers

Who would win in the ultimate catfight between a lion and a tiger?

We humans love to ask these kinds of questions don’t we? I once watched an entire documentary that was devoted to discovering which predator would win between a hippopotamus and a Tiger shark (the hippo won the virtual fight by a slight margin).

Sometimes the questions are interesting but unanswerable, like when we compare athletes from two separate eras, such as Muhammad Ali versus Mike Tyson, or Michael Jordan versus Kobe Bryant (answers: Muhammad Ali; Kobe Bryant). At other times, though, the questions are purely fanciful, like who would win between Superman and Mighty Mouse or between Batman and the Wolverine.

The catfight question though is a legitimate one, and since a Bengal tiger and an African lion are roughly the same sizes, people throughout history have sought to answer it.

Historians record the outcomes of staged battles between African lions and Asian tigers in the Roman Coliseum, and today there has been enough observation both in the wild and in captivity to come up with a consistent answer.

One-on-one the tiger usually wins.

Despite the fact that lions with protective manes encircling their jugulars seem better built to fight, tigers are usually more aggressive and dominant.

The exception to this rule; however, is when the two great cats fight in teams. A pride of lions will outfight a team of tigers because while tigers are fiercer individually, lions are better at fighting as a group.

This little piece of nature trivia has an interesting parallel for our lives. We are safer and more effective in teams. Even if we have a more introverted temperament, we are safer when our lives are interlocked with a band of sisters or brothers. One of my former teachers said, “Lone Rangers build reputations but they don’t build people or nations. That takes a community.”

Let’s find, latch onto, and contribute to a Jesus-centered, people-building, nation-reaching community. Let’s stay entrenched with our band of brothers or sisters so that when our days of testing inevitably come, we will emerge victoriously.

“He (Jesus) appointed twelve that they might be with Him…” (Mark 3:14)