Difficulty in Finding the Relationship Between Lions and Tigers

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Historically, the comparative merits of the tiger versus the lion was a popular topic of discussion by hunters, naturalists, artists, and poets, and it continues to inspire the popular imagination in the present day.[1][2][3] Lions and tigers have competed in the wild where their ranges have overlapped. They have also been pitted against each other in captivity, either as deliberate contests or as a result of accidental encounters. Contents [hide] 1 History 2 Competition in the wild 3 Physical comparison 3.1 Comparative size 3.2 Temperament 3.3 Accidental fights in captivity 4 Expert opinions 5 Mythical character comparison 6 Arts and literature 6.1 Art 6.2 Literature 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External links History In the circuses of Ancient Rome, exotic beasts were commonly pitted against each other. The contest of the lion against the tiger was a classic pairing and the betting usually favoured the tiger.[4][5] A mosaic in the House of the Faun in Pompeii shows a fight between a lion and a tiger.[6] At the end of the 19th century, the Gaekwad of Baroda arranged a fight between a lion and tiger before an audience of thousands. The Gaekwad favoured the lion, and as a result had to pay 37,000 rupees as the lion was mauled by the tiger.[2] Competition in the wild Lions and tigers coexisted in central India until the late 19th century and some accounts of contests were recorded.[7] The University of Minnesota's Lion Research Project describes the resulting findings as unclear: the lions were hunted more than tigers due to them preferring plain land due to which they now only live in Gir forest where no tiger lives.[7] The possibility of conflicts between the two has been raised in relation to the Asiatic Lion Reintroduction Project, which would introduce Gir Lions (Asiatic lions) from Gir Forest National Park to another preserve, the

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