Are Lions a lot more aggresive than Tigers?

Question

Someone was telling me that it's a lot safer to try and train and "tame" a Lion than it is to a Tiger beause Lions are a lot less volatile. I'm told generally, a Lion won't just turn on you, if it's starting to get pissed off it'll warn you, before it actually turns. However, with a Tiger, it could be perfectly fine for years, and then suddently just turn on your at a seconds notice, no warning, for no apparent reason. So, to sum it up, he thought you can tame a Lion to the point where you can be fairly sure it won't attack you providing your very careful and treat it with respect, but with a Tiger, you can never trust them, no matter what you do.

You opinions?

Answer 1

Wild animals, "all" wild animals, are WILD animals, and you should never trust ANY of them.  This includes Lions, Tigers, Bears, Alligators, Wolves, Monkeys, Apes, etc, etc.  

Many people have been attacked, mauled, and even killed by such "tamed" or docile wild animals.  Look at Sigfried & Roy.  Look at that self-proclaimed Grizzly man that got eaten.  Look at Steve Erwin.  I have personally known friends who have been injured by so-called "tamed" animals.  One was badly hurt by a "trained" elephant.  Another was almost killed by a "former" pet Jaguar that had even had it's canine teeth and claws removed.

When a wild animal reaches maturity, something in their brain clicks and they become the "wild" animal that nature intended them to be.  The zoos and animal sanctuaries are full of former "pets" rejected by their owners because the animals "turned" on the owners.  I've worked with several of these animals myself.

Wild animals should NOT be pets.  They should be in the wild where they belong.  They are a part of nature and the environment, and therefore help balance our living planet.

Answer 2

Its all down to degrees of safety.

Neither would be safe BUT Lions are pack animals and, as your friend pointed out, do give an indication of their feelings (whether that be happy or pis*ed) as they would be interacting with others within the pack whereas tigers are solitary and therefore do not 'show' their feelings as in the wild they would have no pack member to show them to.

In that sense your friend is correct but I do not know if a Lion would be less likely to attack you. By being able to read his more expressive moods you would probably be able to smooth the situation over/back off before the attack point.

Probably not an experiment I'd want to try though!!

Answer 3

wild tame animals are both very unpredictable,you cant keep either for to long because even when playing with you they could snap and lol release their inner wild on you =]

Answer 4

You cannot really say tigers or lions are more aggressive - animals are not all the same, any more than humans are, and it depends entirely on the individual involved. There are overly aggressive lions and overly aggressive tigers, and there are timid lions and timid tigers. However tame it appears, a wild animal will always retain its wild instincts and can turn on you for no apparent reason. You can never completely trust any animal - just look how many people are killed by dogs every year, and they have been domesticated for thousands of generations. You must also remember that animals like lions and tigers have no idea that they are far stronger than we are - they are capable of badly injuring a person when simply trying to play. What might be a playful cuff to another cat could mean a broken neck for a human.