Expert: Malcolm B. Sullivan Date: 3/25/2008 Subject: Tigers
Question QUESTION: Hello,
don't you think its vague and nebelous to say tigers have the strength of 12-15 men? can you ascertain this with any diagrams etc.? as far as I know there have been no studies in tiger strength. tigers have far more draggign capacity than humans and can swipe with more power but it cannot lift as much as us or kick as hard as us. we must define the field of strength to be accurate
give me your opinion, thanks
ANSWER: Hi, Richard
When people says that a tiger has the strenght of 12-15 humans, this is based on the fact that, for example, a tiger can drag a dead animal that 12-15 men wouldnīt be able to move. You donīt really need scientific studies or diagrams for that.
Indeed, studies on the real strenght of animals are rare and I am not aware of such studies on tigers, but since strenght can be defined in more than one way, it is possible that they will not be done anyway. And in reality, there are more important things about this endangered species, so I donīt think any experts are going to use their time in finding out how strong tigers really are.
Best regards
Malcolm
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QUESTION: Ok is that the only example? Don't you think it is still vague and nebelous?
Because the tiger can drag something that 12-15 men can't. So it is correct to say that a tiger has a DRAGGING CAPACITY of 12-15 men. Because it is wrong to say it has the strength of 12-15 men as it cannot lift, or kick with as much strength than us. (there may be more movements in which we excel at more than the tiger but im not scientist).
ANSWER: Hi, Richard
If the tiger has not the capacity to lift as much weight as we, or to kick with so much strenght (something I really doubt, by the way), it is certainly not because of inferior strenght, but rather because of a completely different body structure. A tiger has no way of lifting something over its head. Being a quadruped with a moderate height (not more than one meter in most cases) and thus being close to the ground at all times, it is just impossible for it to lift a large animal and carry it without dragging it.
The fact remains that the tiger is much, much more powerful than even the strongest men. There are very few things in which humans are physycally superior to tigers (endurance, for example), but these are really, very few.
Best regards
Malcolm
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QUESTION: See, you can make the exact same arguement for humans. We're aren't built like a tiger, thus we find it hard to even drag an antelope a few metres. I doubt a tiger could kick as hard as us, but I don't doubt their lower body is stronger than us.
We're bipedal, and bipedal animals aren't built for dragging or swiping with as much power as a tiger.
No, the fact remains that tigers excel far more than us in certain strength movements, while we in others. The point of contention here is, because we're so diffrent, it would be vague and nebelous to say a tiger is as strong as 12-15 men, as a tiger beats us in some not all movements.
Agree or not? I doubt there is anything to discuss further, so I won't be asking any followups(I doubt I'm allowed another).
Answer Hi again
Indeed, it is hard to compare two animals that are so different. But even if we leave dragging capacity and etc out of the matter, the tiger, being a much larger animal, would still be much stronger than any human.
