Dear Valentine,

My own experience shows that Siberian Tigers, though they certainly are big and strong always try to avoid fighting even with humans (single scientists like me). I never saw Grizzly Bears but from that I've read about them - they are strong, cruel and aggressive. If they fight 10 times - you have to have 10 pairs of these animals which is absolutely impossible since I doubt that Russian Government will permit to deliver for this experiment 10 tigers.

http://www.compareanimal.com/2014/08/compare-grizzly-bear-vs-siberian-tiger.html

Conclusion given in the said website:

Head to Head Fight:

According to stats, facts and history, Siberian tiger always has the upper hand over grizzly bear and will win in head to head fight.

Hi Leonid, Thank you for your reply. I would never want to watch such a gruesome encounter. My question was hypothetical and seeks to explore the tactical realities of an encounter of this kind. Subir,

Thank you for your response and suggested website.

Dear Valentine, of course, I realized that you wanted to consider an imaginary situation.

My meeting with a tiger in the Ussuriysk Taiga was absolutely real. I walked with fishing rod and quite unexpectedly saw in 15-20 meters from me a huge tiger. In such situations, one just need to stand still and look straight into his eyes. It took, perhaps, about 5 minutes - to look at each other; then we got tired; turned around and parted "like ships in the sea". [Much more dangerous is wolverine. Wolverine will certainly beat your Grizzly Bear. I am sure that export-transportation of Wolverines from Russia to your country - is not restricted by Russian laws - please come and take some if you wish].

The US is home to both wolverines and grizzly bears. I'm a big wolverine fan but in a fight between the two, I'm going to lay my bets on the grizzly. If a wolverine manages to grab a grizzly by the windpipe, it might (big might) have a chance to smother the bear. However, the grizzly is unlikely to submit tamely to being choked and those claws it sports at the ends of its toes are not just for impressing potential mates. The wolverine will be so shredded so quick that even if it manages to hang on long enough to kill the grizzly, it will quickly follow the bear into oblivion.

I suppose between the tiger and the bear, the outcome of the match would depend on the particular animals involved.

There was a study years ago on lion vs hyaena (spotted) pack encounter outcomes in the wild. The determining factor was found to be the side which had the most collective body mass wins.

Testosterone levels play a huge role in African elephant bull-on-bull encounters. The higher the testosterone, the higher the aggression and resultant dominance success.

My two cents!

Victor,

Thank you for your reply. I imagine the testosterone level of both the tiger and bear would be quite high. Neither would have confronted an animal like the one they would face in Tiger vs. Bear. Your analysis is good. Make a prediction on this one. India and Leonid-thank you.

Assuming testosterone levels are similar, I would predict the one which has the highest body mass will win, i.e. grizzly bear. But if you'd ask me who I would like to win, I'd say the tiger!

Victor,

Thank you for your answer. Have you considered the speed, technical ability and intelligence of the tiger? If there is a veterinarian among our members I hope he/she will offer an opinion. In the Roman Colosseum bears were matched with male lions. The lions invariably won these matches. However, the Romans had no access to the Grizzly Bear or the outcome would be known. The difference in weight between the tiger and bear is not great. enough to overcome the assets of the tiger.

There's some gruesome and unethical video footage on the web of bear-on-tiger encounters in which tigers have been defeated multiple times.

Another factor bears have over tigers is endurance. Here's a much smaller bear winning out against a tiger in the wild: https://youtu.be/WGxTtn7dCn8

In humans, body mass can be a formidable factor to contend with, even when poorly executed (I have first-hand experience of this from friendly fights against bigger guys during karate kumite in mixed weight divisions): https://youtu.be/pi_Uj2OjP-0

My daughter has been urged by her department to become one of their krav maga instructors. She declines. Training would require all out fighting and at 5'4" she knows she'd get flattened by some of the 6'6" 280 pound guys, no matter how great her skills.

Dear Victor and India,

Thank you for enlightenment. I have changed my opinion and now believe that the bear would prevail in most encounters. However, I maintain the tiger has a chance for an occasional win. If any of our members are veterinarians or animal behavior experts I hope they will respond.

Dear Victor and India,

I checked the average weight of the Grizzly bear at 340 kg. and the Siberian Tiger at 305 Kg. I'm not certain that this weight advantage is decisive. What if the tiger goes for a quick kill by leaping at the jugular vein of the bear?

Anything can happen, Valentine. Given the right situation, I guarantee my daughter could wreck an assailant and I wouldn't count the tiger out either. There are plenty of stories about wolverines driving wolves and coyotes off kills despite size differences. Several years ago, I threw the field to a badger that I outweighed by 150 lbs- intimidation value of a good snarl and a show of teeth should not be underestimated.

I'm not positive, but I think most kills made by throat grabbing come about by crushing the windpipe and not ripping out the jugular. There's time during the crushing process for the crushee to do considerable damage to the crusher while trying to dislodge the assailant.

India,

If I understand your response correctly the encounter between the two animals could end in a draw?

Two animals, same weight, same ferocity, similarly armed with claws and fangs... since it's a theoretical question, the theoretical answer is sure, why shouldn't it end in a draw? Personally, I'd like to think the tiger and the grizzly would gang up on the Romans.

This is totaly not my field of expertise. However recently I came aross a book of Michel Pastoureau: Bear History Fallen King, that could be useful to resolve your puzzle:

https://www.amazon.com/Bear-History-Fallen-King/dp/0674047826

In one part he recapitullate animal fights in Roman circus where bear was mostly wining agains bulls, lions and other big animals with exceptions of one encounter with rhinoceros. Thuss I will bet on bear.

India,

Both animals would wind up in the Roman Colosseum and eventually die there.

Ah, Valentine, maybe they'd be the Celtic Horde of tiger/grizzly combos and sack the city before the friendly Roman countrymen knew what was happening.

I reread the original question and now have a question myself re: "...but tiger is more technical than grizzly." What did you mean by technical?

Hi India,

By technical I mean aggressiveness that combines effectiveness. An effective attack aimed at killing an opponent quickly by attacking the neck, holding onto the opponents upper body with the front paws and disemboweling him with the back paws. I also mean cleverness, avoiding the claws and bites of an opponent, combined with superior speed and reflexes.