What if tigers would live in Africa together with lions?
We can all be forgiven for thinking of Africa as the homeland of all animals
since our own origins stem from its lands.
And indeed, the tigers’ ancestors did originate in Africa.
Tigers, the largest of the big cats, do not live in Africa.
Though there are a number of large cats and predators to be found throughout the continent,
tigers are not one of them.
Wild tigers are found only in Asia across 13 tiger-range countries.
The natural habitat of tigers in the wild is widespread and includes a variety of habitats.
While they tend to be found primarily in forested areas,
they also occupy grasslands, mangrove swamps and even rocky environments.
These majestic creatures can be found in China, Indonesia and Southeast Asia,
to India and parts of Russia.
While their territory was once very widespread,
poaching and loss of habitat
have left the populations of many tiger subspecies at risk or highly threatened.
In total, there are around 4,000 tigers left in the wild in Asia.
A tiger's coat can actually take on a variety of colors.
The standard colors of a Bengal tiger
are an orange body with black stripes coming down the sides.
The weight of male Bengal tigers can range between 400 to 550 pounds (180 - 250 kg),
while that of females is 220 to 353 lbs (100 - 160 kg).
The Siberian tiger was once considered the largest tiger,
but has now become significantly smaller,
with males weighing an average of 176 kg and females weighing an average of 118 kg.
That is smaller than the African lion.
Why Are There No Tigers in Africa?
We’ve established that wild tigers are not indigenous to Africa,
though you can imagine them fitting in well amongst the African wildlife as predators.
Actually, tigers, lions and leopards share a common big cat ancestor.
They are all part of the Felidae family of cats, which originated in Africa.
Around 2 million years ago this ancestor Felidae migrated to Asia
and evolved into the striped tigers.
Scientists don’t know exactly why,
but tigers never migrated back to Africa after evolving and settling in Asia.
It is speculated that the passing of time and subsequent tectonic movements
and geographic boundaries made it impossible.
Whatever the exact reason, Africa has never been home to the modern tiger.
Could Tigers Survive in Africa?
First of all, it is clear that tigers love water,
which is why they would probably hate Africa.
As for food, I don't think it would be a problem for tigers,
it is known that it feeds on ungulates in Asia as well,
and Africa does not lack such a thing.
If a leopard, which has a tiger-like lifestyle, manages to survive and hunt there,
surely a tiger could.
However, in this case the competition will appear.
Obviously, Africa already has its apex predators.
Lions live in prides and hyenas live in clans.
A lone tiger would have no chance against
a group of these rivals regardless of what you think would happen in a one on one fight.
A tiger, if he managed to hunt and kill an animal on the plains would
then be forced to give up his meal to scavengers like lions or hyenas or die fighting.
Leopards are very good at climbing trees,
they can use this to hide food in trees, or hide from lions and hyenas.
And cheetahs have excellent sprinting abilities,
making it impossible for lions and hyenas to catch up.
However, the maximum running speed of tigers is only 64 km/h (40 mph),
on par with hyenas and far behind lions.
Hyenas have much better endurance than tigers,
they can maintain the same speed of chasing prey for a long time as wolves.
If the tiger is chased by the hyenas, it will not be able to escape,
it will be forced to climb a tree.
But the ability of tigers to climb trees is not as good as leopards, even losing to lions.
And if hunted by the lions, the tiger seems to have no chance,
the male tiger can still fight back,
and the female tiger is very difficult to fight a group of lions.
We still often see even adult male lions alone,
beaten up by other male lion coalitions and seriously injured or even dead.
While tigers prefer to live alone, they can easily fall into the same situation.
Lastly, lions and hyenas are hardly the only things a tiger would have to worry about.
There are also cape buffalos and hippos,
two animals that are far more aggressive than anything the tiger faces in its native habitat.
Imagine a tiger trying to take a dip in a watering hole
only to be confronted by a Nile croc or hippo.
Tigers can still adapt to the environment in Africa
Anyway, if we introduce tigers in Africa they can adapt well to the habitat.
Surprisingly tiger camouflage works well in African environments.
They will start adapting to their new environment “The African Savannah”.
They will start hunting Zebras, Cape Buffaloes, Wildebeests, Giraffes, etc.
They will start tolerating hot temperatures.
Physically, the Tiger is more than capable of surviving in Africa.
In size, speed and weight, it is equal to a lion.
Where the problems will come from is competition.
The continent of Africa provides many different types of habitats,
and tigers are known to adapt to many different habitats,
as their historical range includes the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula to the warm,
tropical jungles of southern China and Indonesia.
Different species have evolved over thousands,
if not millions, of years to fit a particular niche in nature.
This is not to say that they would be unable to capture African game
as has been proved at the Laohu Valley Reserve on former sheep farms
in the Free State province of South Africa.
However, here they are cared for by people rather than living freely.
In the recent past, tigers and lions did co-exist in India,
with lions in the grasslands and savannahs and tigers more near the forests
but their territories did sometimes overlap in the peripheries,
so there would be some conflict between these two apex predators
since they compete for much of the same prey.
No, the tiger would not replace the African lion as the apex predator in Africa
they are often in large prides with two or more males
and 10 to 15 or more females and subadults so a solitary tiger would be killed.
Tigers probably could survive in the African Congo basin rain forest
but that would be another reason not to introduce them to Africa
as they would prey on the threatened chimpanzees and gorillas.
In the African forest, they would adversely affect the leopard numbers.
So, based on the above, I have come to the conclusion:
If tigers are brought to Africa,
perhaps then gradually they will form social groups like lions
and will also hunt in groups if they want to survive in the grasslands.
However, for a species to form a new habit takes a lot of time,
possibly hundreds or even thousands of years.
That is, time will not wait for tigers,
they will have to adapt immediately or be eliminated.
Or if tigers can only live alone,
we have to choose the tropical forests of Africa to bring them in.
But this will affect other animals living in the area.
In short, it is certainly reasonable to let tigers continue to live in the areas
where they are now, and should not move to Africa.
Besides, what I just said is not underestimating tigers.
But because each species will have suitable habitat for itself,
African lions and spotted hyenas will also have difficulties if they have to live in Asia.
That's my opinion, what about yours?
I am waiting for your reply in the comments section.
Now goodbye and see you soon.