Biggest Lion
Where Can You Find The Biggest Lion?
Details of where the world's biggest lion is, or was, are somewhat murky. A farm in Canada claims to have the biggest lion in captivity, though neither its weight nor its physical dimensions are mentioned. The Barbary lion of North Africa is considered by some to be the largest of the present day species, weighing in at around 600 pounds, but unfortunately, the species has recently become extinct, so no longer holds the title.
Records Are Fuzzy - A further search indicates the biggest lion of any living species tipped the scale at 825 pounds, but the records, from 40 years ago, do not indicate whether the lion was one in captivity, killed by hunters, or caught and measured in the wild. The largest lion killed by a hunter which has been documented, tipped the scales at 600 pounds. The African lion typically weighs between 300 and 500 pounds for the male, with the females being about 100 pounds lighter. One of the difficulties in establishing records for species of lions, is that their size tends to depend a great deal on their habitat and the environment in which they live. Lions in one part of Africa tend to weigh more than in another part, even though they are of the same species.
Tigers Are Bigger - The lion is known as the King of Beasts, leading one to believe that it is the largest member of the cat family. The mane of the male lion seems to reinforce that belief, making the lion appear much larger than it actually is, though it is still a big cat. The lion is a member of the Panthera genus, which includes the lion, the tiger, the panther, and the jaguar. It is the tiger that is the largest member of the family.
To find what may have truly been the biggest lion ever, one would have to go back to prehistoric times. In fact the largest species of lions known, the American cave lion, died out about 10,000 years ago, possibly a victim of the Ice Age, though it apparently roamed from Alaska as far south as Peru.
Lions and Tigers and Ligers, Oh My! - If it is a really, really big lion you're looking for, there is a tame one, that has tipped the scales at over 1,000 pounds though not yet fully grown. Hercules, is not technically the world's biggest lion, but probably the world's biggest liger, a cross between a lion and a tiger. Lions and tigers do not usually mate with one another, in fact when brought together are apt to try to kill each other, at least in the wild. Add the fact that nearly since all tigers now living are in Asia, and the lions are in Africa, a cross between the two seems unlikely. It has happened though in zoos, both by design and by accident. Apparently when the two species mate, the offspring does not pick up the certain growth inhibiting characteristics present in the tiger, in this case a female tiger. The Liger has a male lion and female tiger as its parents. If the parents are a male tiger and female lion, the offspring is a tigon, a cat somewhat smaller than the liger. These cats are not make believe, though only a handful of them exist today.
Taking Hercules the liger, as the record holder for the world's biggest lion seems to be cheating a bit, but it is certainly the world's biggest cat. Seek out an image of him standing on his hind legs, all 10 feet plus of him, and you'll be impressed. Leo will seem small by comparison.