we will find out which of these creatures would win in a head-to-head battle if they ever had
one at the end of the seven rounds we will determine together who the winner is round one
habitat where do these creatures live killer whales or orcas can be found in all oceans and
most seas of the world despite the fact that they can dive up to 385 feet in search of prey
they prefer high latitudes and coastal areas over pelagic environments they tend to concentrate in
areas such as the coasts of iceland norway the valdez peninsula of argentina the croset islands
new zealand and parts of the west coast of north america from california to alaska lions live in
scattered populations across sub-saharan africa they rarely enter closed forests and as such
are absent from rainforests instead they prefer grassy plains and savannas scrub bordering rivers
and open woodlands with bushes lions have also been recorded at pretty high elevations they have
been recorded as high as 11 800 feet above sea level on mount elgin in kenya there used to be
lines widely distributed in asia now though only a tiny population can be found on the supercontinent
this is in and around gear national park in gujarat western india what are their populations
estates for killer whale populations are uncertain even so recent consensus suggests a minimum of 50
000 individuals this is broken down by region as 25 000 in the antarctic 8500 in the tropical
pacific 2250 to 2700 off the cooler northeast pacific 500 to 1500 off norway and 2321 in japan
estimates of lion populations vary although their figures in the wild are said to be about
200 000 or fewer their populations have been declining rapidly over the years most of
these individuals live in africa however a small population of about 500 individuals can be found
in asia are these creatures endangered killer whales don't have any formal conservation status
this is because conservation groups worldwide have come to the conclusion that there simply isn't
enough data to classify them but it's safe to say that considering prey depletion pollution fishing
and the hunting of these creatures based on the most conservative estimates of their population
their population may be downtrending lions are listed as vulnerable on the iucn red list
this means that unless a change is made they will go extinct in the future the activities of man
continually destroy their habitats reducing available areas for hunting and breeding
how many are killed in a year the exact numbers for killer whales alone aren't known however it
is known that about 300 000 dolphins and whales are killed by humans every year as a result of
fisheries bycatch pollution and habitat loss for lions about 600 of them are killed each year by
the activities of hunters and poachers who wins the round since estimates suggest that there are
more lions than killer whales and since fewer lions than killer whales are killed each year
lions win the round round two diet what do these creatures eat as apex predators killer whales have
no natural enemies since they are social they hunt in groups like wolf packs they
eat a wide variety of prey including fish cephalopods mammals seabirds and sea turtles
there are about 30 different species of fish they prey on lions are classified as generalist
hyper carnivores they are both keystone and apex predators this means there's no meat they find
which they won't eat however they do have their preferences and this includes blue wildebeest
plain zebra american buffalo gems book and giraffe like killer whales they tend to hunt in packs
with lionesses doing most of the heavy lifting how much do these creatures need to eat the
amount that a particular animal needs to eat is typically a function of its body weight killer
whales can weigh as much as 13 000 pounds that's at least half the length of a bus at at least a
quarter of its weight and so they need between 150 to 300 pounds of food per day as they expand a lot
of energy while they swim lions since they are smaller require a lot less food daily than this
an adult lioness requires an average of about 11 pounds of meat per day while males require about
15 pounds lions gorge themselves and eat up to 66 pounds in one session if they are unable to
consume all of the meal they have hunted they rest for a few hours before continuing to eat
lions may take days to finish a meal and therefore have to guard their meal against hyenas vultures
and other scavengers how easy is it for them to find food since killer whales hunt in packs
they don't really struggle to subdue their prey they also have a wide variety of organisms to
prey on it's relatively easy for them to find food lions also hunt and packs so subduing prey isn't a
problem here either however they have a smaller selection of parade to choose from than killer
whales do who wins the round since killer whales have a more diverse palette of prey to hunt down
they win this round in addition they have way less competitors than lions do lions have to worry
about hyenas leopards and wild dogs however killer whales only need to worry about great white sharks
round 3 lifespan how long do they live killer whales have an average lifespan of 50 to 80 years
some have been known to live up to 105 years their life expectancy in captivity is typically more
than their life expectancy in the wild female killer whales reach sexual maturity at the age
of 20. they are one of the few non-human animals who are known to undergo menopause and live for
decades after they are done breeding to raise the young and take care of their social growth
lions live up to eight to ten years in the wild and up to 10 to 15 years in captivity
a lioness named zenda was the oldest lion ever she lived in philadelphia zoo usa and she died
at the age of 25 years old who wins the round the average lifespan of the killer whale is 75 years
however the average lifespan of the lion is 12.5 years as such killer whales win this round too
round four bigger threat to humans how many humans do they attack very few reliable cases of killer
whale attacks on humans in the wild exist however in captivity these creatures have quite the track
record of hurting and killing their handlers in any case no official annual mortality figures
exist even though humans are not the natural prey of lions it's estimated that about 200 humans are
killed each year by lions lions attack humans more when their natural prey becomes hard to find how
do they attack killer whales are excellent hunters they make use of adaptations such as echolocation
to locate prey accurately although they have a mouth full of teeth this is not for chewing
instead they use their conical mouth like an appendage and use it to grab food being generalist
hyper carnivores lions have a lot of tools that help them guarantee hunting success other than
the social habit of hunting in packs they have large claws and even larger teeth to guarantee
hunting success lions have really weak stamina and so they can't really run for long periods of time
instead they sprint in short bursts lions can open their jaws by up to 11 inches giving them one of
the largest bites in the animal kingdom their teeth can be up to four inches long and their
claws can be up to 1.5 inches long lions have a bite force of only 650 psi and each year about 200
people are killed by lions specific examples even though orcas in captivity may lose their sense of
aggression they are so massive and strong that they can cause unintended damage on december 24
2009 29 year old alexis martinez was killed by an orca when practicing for a christmas show at
laurel park mexico while in the water martinez was rammed in the chest by the 14 year old male arca
known as keto martinez drowned before fellow trainers could rescue him even though to a lay
person this might have seemed like a malicious attack the orca was only trying to play with him
however it hit him a little too hard in shoalhaven zoo australia a zookeeper entered critical
condition after she was attacked by two lions the 35 year old woman was cleaning their feeding pens
when the creature set upon her the lions attacked her viciously leaving several bites paramedics
arrived at the scene but they had to enter the pen with the lions to treat the woman by then the
lions had calmed down and did not interfere the woman was given first aid treatment and then got
transferred to a hospital for further treatment her condition was critical but stable who wins
the round since there are more documented cases of lion attacks in the wild than killer whales
lions win this round round five what are these creatures hunted by what hunts these creatures
killer whales are apex predators they do not have any natural predators however they have
been known to get into the occasional spat with their competitors great white sharks
since lions are also apex predators on top of being hyper carnivores they are at the top of the
food chain however the animal kingdom can be quite rough and they end up fighting other carnivores
over food since lions share an ecological niche with hyenas these are the creatures they end up
fighting most often hyenas frequently challenge lions and steal their kills obtaining food from
63 percent of all lion kills who wins this round killer whales have less to worry about
than lions do as such killer whales win the round round six speed how fast can these creatures go
killer wheels can swim as fast as 35 miles per hour this allows them to close distances with
their prey pretty easily they can also dive as deep as 385 feet beneath the water's surface
in search and prey lions don't really have the best stamina as such they can sprint in only short
bursts however within those short bursts they can attain speeds of up to 50 miles per hour who wins
this round since lions have a top speed greater than killer whales they win this round round seven
special skills and adaptability what are the little-known skills and adaptability
of these creatures killer whales are highly intelligent and capable of nuanced communication
they also have advanced social dynamics in addition to this they use the sounds generated
by echolocation to hunt and sometimes they even use their blow holes to shepherd prey towards
the surface in court earthen they also have superior healing attributes which far outperform
anything else in the animal kingdom lions have many special adaptations which allow them to
maintain their spot at the top of the food shade these include an acute sense of smell night vision
powerful paws sharp claws sharp teeth rough tongue and loose belly skin who wins the round
killer whales have more unique special adaptations than lions as such they win the round
verdict well in this clash of the titans lions won the rounds concerning speed
habitat and threat posed to humans however killer whales won four of the rounds dealing
with diet lifespan natural predators and special adaptations as such killer whales win the contest