Lion vs Elephant: Who is The King of the Jungle?

06Feb

Photo of the Week, Wildlife Updates

elephant, lions

(22 comments)

Lion and elephant are both respected members of the Big 5. Lions are fearsome, carnivorous predators and elephant are family orientated herbivores. However when up close with these gentle giants their enormous bulk and sharp tusks appear terribly fearsome!

Is the Lion King of the Jungle?

Traditionally the lion has been crowned King of the Jungle, but when one observes a lion and elephant encounter in the African wild it is clear to see that King lion has a healthy respect for elephant. It might even be suggested that lion is a little scared of elephant as is beautifully captured by ranger Chelee in this photograph.

Lion will Prey on Elephant Calves

Lion will usually avoid adult elephant, and attack youngsters only if they have become separated from the herd. However, some prides have learned how to take down full-grown adults under dire circumstances when other food sources are scarce. One documented kill in Botswana saw a pride of twenty-six lions kill an adult elephant cow.

Caption ranger Chelee’s Photo

We had a bit of fun on our Facebook page and asked viewers to caption ranger Chelee’s extraordinary photograph. The responses were so good we just had to share them. Leave a comment below with your favourite or email lindy@kariega.co.za.

Art Ryan: “Who did you say the king was pussycat?”
Dick Schuurman: “Will the real king of the jungle stand up.”
Sharon Fleet: “Does this mean… I’m not invited for dinner?”
Katrice Thomas Leach: “Can’t we all just get along?”
Victoria Martin: “Watch out wide load coming through.”
Vee Dench: “That’s right, leave like you always do when we disagree… sniff.”
Margie Trandem: Elle is thinking “you better pack a lunch Mr. Lion.”
Charlie Anderson: “Don’t push your luck Leo.”
Nicky Skipp: “I see you baby, shakin that ass!!”

Comments

Predatoriamegalodon said “I wonder if you know marine animals ??” - You are not comparing apples with apples. No matter how strong is an orca or other sea creatures. They would be defenseless on land. It is obvious the book of proverbs 30:30 “The lion, which is mightiest among beasts and does not turn back before any.” This text was relating to land creatures. The lion’s mane is not mentioned. – In biblical times lions were found in all Mesopotamia (other predators were the Caspian tiger, the brown bear, the leopard and hyena) Israel had lions, bears and leopards and Egypt had the Barbary lion – Museums, archaeology shows that these countries contained a great number of lion statues way before the bible was written, many lion gods and goddesses of war. The Great Sphinx of Giza the biggest animal representation on earth, which represents the pharaoh (pharaohs and other antique kings were called lions) This sculpture was built way before Moses has started to write the bible. Because the lion was a symbol of royal power and victory, it was common for kings to sit on a lion’s throne. In fact, the oldest human-animal representation is a pre-civilization statuette found in Europe called “lion-man” and it is believed to be linked to the lion worshipped. Just to let you know, there was a time the lion was the most spread mammalian on earth (Africa – Europe -Mesopotamia – Siberia – Canada – USA way to South-America Peru.)

To Snapper. The lion is the only natural predator of the African elephant, the hippopotamus and the giraffe and the most aggressive bovine on earth the cape buffalo (records show some rhinos have been also killed). In fact, the single lion has the greatest predator-prey weight ratio on earth. LIONS ARE LAZY IS AN URBAN LEGEND. No predators on earth have a more brutal and violent lifestyles than lions. The male lion in particular has a very hard life. The 2013 Kruger park study showed that when a male lion has enough coverage to ambush, he has the same hunting success rates as the single lioness. This study says the males were with their prides only 13% of the time. The favorite prey of the single male lion was the cape buffalo bull. In fact, lions use on average more energy and muscle power in their hunts than the other big cats. With little efforts you can find easily male lions hunting videos on YouTube so you don’t have any excuses. And of course, fights a whole lot more. A male lion is far to be lazy. No other land predator could endure the lifestyle of a wild male lion.

To Jaybaby. Fact is the little lion compared to the elephant is the natural predator of the elephant. What is more impressive seeing an animal several times bigger, killing a lion or, a lion several times smaller, killing a big elephant! What is the most impressive? The mighty lion, of course!

I swear this is the most clueless comment section I’ve ever seen. I see comments comparing a single male lions strength to a bull elephants strength. Like how retarded do you have to be to think that a lion can take down an adult bull elephant? Y’all lion fanboys need to calm down because a bull elephant can solo entire lion prides and curb stomp any animal on land so of course they are the kings. Hell, even tigers and polar bears can destroy a male lion 1v1 so the title of king doesn’t even come in 2nd or 3rd for lion 🤷‍♂️.

The incident in Botswana that saw a twenty-six lions kill an adult elephant cow doeesnt make a King of jungle but a pck of wolves. One Lion killing an adult elephant may make it king of lion. So Lion you are definetly not king of jungle but a jacle ot wolf you sure are.

"Watch the tail pea brain; you're going down big boy. Elephant tonight."

To Barry S. Of course there's no man eating elephant. They are herbivores, not carnivores. The reason they put lions in the cage is because they eat meat when they were starved. Elephants don't have the nature of attacking humans and lions do. That is why they used lions. Please try to realize your own fallacious logic before posting a pseudo-intellectual comment as such.

LION IS KING. Lions are the only African elephant predators. This is why we see regularly hesitations from even the largest elephant bulls when they sense lions specially the male lions. Now look at this picture this male lion may be 450 to 500 lb and the elephant is many times bigger. See how bold the male lion is. The muscular structure of the male lion is the most of all the mammalian family. If you reduce the elephant to the size of a lion, of course the lion will be stronger. Lions deals regularly with animal two times and more bigger than themselves not the elephants. Lions hunts the largest preys on earth that's made them the world's top predator. In 2012 the National Geographic said "NO ANIMAL ARE SAFE FRON LIONS". Lions will generally hunt elephants at night time. Did they killed adult elephants, yes they did. Most likely these adults African elephants shown some sorts of weakness, like old age, wounded, sick or else. However, lions kills isolate sub adult healthy elephants bulls 7 to 14 years old ( they become adult at 18 year old) these elephants could be 3000 lb or more. Thousands of years ago at the beginning of civilization in Mesopotamia, the lion was proclaimed the "king of the beasts" there were herds of elephants in those days and large predators like the Caspian tiger, the brown bear. The most impressive animal was the lion. In fact the term "mighty lion" whish mean strong came from this antique period and still is today. The title "the lion king of the jungle" is very recent from 19th Century in India who is the land of the Asiatic elephant.

Lol Ross. A 6 ton African Bull elephant would literally flatten a 500 Lb male lion in a one on one matchup. I know lions have been known to hunt elephant if other food sources aren't present. It took 26 lions to bring down a single female according to the article. Bottom line,if you want to be the true king,you win fights without help. A single male lion would not stand a chance against an elephant,rhino,hippo,or Kodiak/Polar bear. Size does matter.

Question: which would you choose to be put in the arena with? The Romans put Christians to the lions for a reason. Barnum and Bailey proved that lions are harder to manage than elephants. Lions are the King of the Jungle. Never heard of a "man eating elephant"! LOL!

When any news says " Lion prides killed bull elephant ", you should check whether it is a fully grown male or younger one. Like the above commenter "Rob" said indeed size does matters.

So some people understand things in a different way. When they see a news headline like that, they don't bother to check whether it is a fully grown adult elephant rather they think in their own that group of lions killed a fully grown adult elephant and leave weird comments in sites supporting their favourite animal lion being superior than anything on the planet which is not the case. Lions are great predators no doubt but there are animals in the modern world that can beat a male African lion one on one like the African elephant, Asian elephant, White rhinoceros, Hippopotamus, Kodiak bear, Kamchatka brown bear, Grizzly bear, Polar bear, Salt water crocodile and also Bengal/Siberian tigers. There are old sources which says, in the battles between lions and tigers the most wins was for the tigers. Whether they are true or not,i don't know.

Then there is no known news about lion prides killing a healthy full grown bull elephant. Here is a link of some people discussing about similar topic. In the below link those guys(most of them probably kids) talk about 3 male lions itself could kill one full grown African bull Elephant which is obviously a joke. More than 5 male lions can't make it either. First of all, coalition of male lions don't try to take on a 6 tonne bull elephant.

http://animalvsanimal.yuku.com/topic/1394/Coalition-of-3-male-lions-vs-African-bull-elephant#.VIx16cnUy1s

I don't know who named the lion as the 'King of Jungle'. Tigers live in Jungles. I think the 'king' is something which does anything it wants to single handedly and not afraid of anything and that creature on land today is only the African bull elephant. No creature messes with it except some pathetic humans with weapons. Any one knows that the only animal which intimidates a lion is the African bull elephant. When the big bull Elephant comes near waterhole to drink, all the lionesses including male lions flee from there and wait. When the elephant leaves, after then only the lions come back and continue their drinking. I have seen it in documentaries.

There is a news about 26 lions that killed a full grown female elephant. Here is a link which is about the "lions-as-macropredators" and there is some discussion about the second series of the BBC’s Planet Earth(2006).

http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2009/02/04/lions-as-macropredators/

I copied 2 paragraphs from that link. Here is one ---- (While most people ‘know’ that elephants are immune to predation thanks to their size, nobody has told this to the Savuti lions. Hunting at night, when the elephant’s poor night vision puts them at a major disadvantage, the lions co-operate as a pride of about 30 individuals to bring down and dispatch elephant prey.)

I have that series,i saw that scene as well and i was not surprised because the large lion prides killed a small elephant only. In some of the youtube videos which i saw has the title name "lions kill elephant" are videos where group of lions killing younger elephants.

Here is another paragraph i copied from the above link -------- (A few opportunistically recorded events may have encouraged the lions to view elephants as potential prey. In their National Geographic film Ultimate Enemies, wildlife film-makers Dereck and Beverly Joubert recorded a case where, after a fight with another bull, a defeated elephant lay, wounded, on the ground. The elephant’s misfortune then became the lion pride’s gain. Wildlife photographer and travel writer Leigh Kemp recorded a case where an old, weakened bull that collapsed and became unable to stand was discovered and eaten (while still alive) by opportunistic lions.)

From reading the above paragraph, you should note that an Elephant bull which was defeated after a fight with another elephant bull was killed by lion pride’s. You don't have to take it seriously because it was severely wounded by another elephant. The lions learned it over time and started to take advantage if a case like that happens.

Then about the travel writer Leigh Kemp recorded a case where an old, weakened bull that collapsed and became unable to stand was discovered and eaten (while still alive) by opportunistic lions..

Once again, note that this is a weak old bull which is not in it's prime anymore. So far i have not read any news or seen any video/picture where female lion prides (or including male lions as well) kill a full grown healthy African bull elephant. So if someday the lions successfully kill a fully grown bull African elephant, most likely we will hear that news and then we can believe that it is possible on very rare occasion until that there is no reason to believe it.

Thank you all for your contributions and opinions. Please respond with respect to comments by others.

LION IS KING OF THE BEASTS

Thousands of years ago, in the antique Mesopotamia (Iraq, Syria, and Turkey) there was the Caspian tiger (genetics similar to the Siberian), the brown bear (similar to a grizzly), the hyena, the Persian lion (Asiatic lion) the elephants, hippos and buffalo. These early civilization was a lot closer to nature than us. They also kept wild animals in captivity and organized combats. The Lion was proclaiming mighty (strong) and "king of the beasts", regarded as the optimum land predator and warrior. Expressions like; fight like a lion or be courageous as a lion came from early antique civilizations too. They saw lions in action in their natural environment and in organized combats against other animals. Many war gods around the world were lions or associated to lions. What very significant the lion was as a symbol of power and victory. For thousands of years the lion domination made unanimity.

The lion is the most iconic animal in history and it is well deserved. Whatever he goes he dominates. Like The National Geographic said in 2012, no animal is safe from lions. Lions are the world's top land predators at the very top of the food chain hunting the biggest preys on earth. They killed them all full-grown elephants included. Remember lions are mainly nocturnal predators. Thanks to today's infrared cameras, at night the balance of power changed elephants fear the lions. For a long time only kings had the right to kill the king of the beasts the lion. In antiquity the word king and the word lion means the same. In the antique Egypt pharaohs were called lions this is why there is the great sphinx with a man’s head with a lion’s body. In the antique Mesopotamia, Roman, Greek, other civilizations and in many parts of Asia including India’s ancient rulers sat on a lion’s throne. They wound choose the very best symbol to represent kingship even if some also had native bears, tigers and other powerful animals. "KING OF THE BEASTS" IS THE THOUSAND-YEAR-OLD OFFICIAL TITLE. The other lion's titles; are more recent comes from the 19th century, India; lion king of the jungle or lion king of the forest. Pound for pound no predator can be compared to lions.

In India, Pakistan (and the Mongols) Sher Shah Suri is the nation's greatest hero. He is named "The Lion King of India". His name Sher means lion.

In 2015 was reported in the India today on April 14 and in the Telegraph Calcutta April 15, in a joint statement with Chancellor Angela Merkel in New Delhi, the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi said, "the Indian lion, king of the land, and the German eagle, king of the skies, can work together."

Of course many lions (26 lions against one elephant) can take down one single adult elephant! DUH! But one on one nothing on this planet can beat a full grown elephant which makes the elephant king of ALL beast.

Ross Wind, I wonder if you know marine animals ?? (hum hum !) Because frankly, you do not stop talking that the lion deserves the title "King of the beasts". I'm sorry, but should reduce this title is completely obsolete. You only rely on the fact that men have been fantasizing about the lion for more than a thousand years ... Let's say that the world of the sea was still very unknown to men until the 1800s!
Even in the Bible. All who participated in the scriptures of the Bible, lived mainly in Africa, Middle East. The only animals they knew were all that famous African bestiary. Because of this, with the lion and his famous mane, this one was named "King of the beasts", since the first writings of the bible.
Evidently, at that time, humans did not yet know the powerful polar bear .. And even less, marine animals! So, if we talk about marine predators, it's gods compared to the lion!
Moreover, if the dolphins, orcas were terrestrial animals, the lion would be quickly dethroned. Because dolphins and orcas combine strength and above all intelligence, self-awareness! What makes all the difference! Since the dawn of time, the REAL kings of animals have always been aquatic animals! No Ty-rex was not the king of predators ... (or only terrestrial). In the oceans, there were mosasaurs, tylosaurs .. and the worst: The megalodon! So he, I believe it's the" KING OF PREDATORS". None could compete with such a behemoth!

In short, stop with "Lion, king of the animal kingdom". It is limited to "Lion, king of terrestrial animals" .. And again, I would not go that far! lol!

Because if the Lion is the king of animals, then I should be told what are the dolphins, orcas, whales, sharks ... They are the real Gods of the animal kingdom! =P

An Asiatic black bear could probably kill a lion too as they have killed tigers which have attacked them.these bears look a bit like a North American black bear but are reported to be very fierce.for example 4 rebels in Kashmir, India,where killed by one after it found them hiding in it's den.

Adding the number to defeat another is a prove that who added number is weaker than another. Example: 5+5+5 >14 here would you say 5 is bigger (stronger) number then 14. Ha! Ha! {Ouch!! Oops!!! PSST!!! Five = lion and Fourteen=elephant (in strength value}}

That's not the jungle.

Lions are lazy. Get the females to do all the work and kill young males that might take their place as leader just like human kings. Imagine a carnivorous elephant. The true king of the jungle are humans because we can kill them all if we have to and eat them too.

They Do A Hug Like In A TV Series

I see lion vs elephant as a courage vs sagacity kind of a thing. Courage is appreciated in the law of the jungle, but elephants are like sages, sit back, look after your kids, and if some awol lion eats your kid, crush him to death. The law of the jungle has a nice balance to it

Make no mistake about it, an adult elephant would literally destroy a lion with minimal effort. The lions are hunters and they are savages by nature. Their tactics earn them that title I would like to see the Silverback take on the lion.

even though the lion is not really the king of the jungle, it's also known as the king of the savannah

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Caption ranger Chelee’s Photo

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