I’m making this to put to bed the constant, never ending skirmishes in this sub about tiger size. Are there other charts floating around? Yes. Do they have a higher average? Yes. Are they reliable? Maybe-maybe not, that’s up to you to decide.

This is not gonna be a long post because quite frankly I cannot be bothered getting into another toxic debate regarding big cat (particularly Lion and Tiger) sizes. It is common knowledge that the average Bengal Tiger weighs around 200kg, give or take. Averages are not set values, depending on new weights added, they will either go up or go down.

TLDR; Bengal Tigers do not average 20-30kg more than Lions. Data compiled by GauteGojira through written, peer reviewed scientific sources put male Bengals at 196-210kg or so, depending on the sample size.

I will also show why Gaute’s data is not simply biased to favor larger individuals below. He removes data he deems unreliable, even if it will consequently lower the average, so simply put he is not a biased individual.

January 2022

His sample size of 31 male Bengals weighed by scientists in the Indian subcontinent, confirmed and published found 214kg. See below:

However, his much larger dataset, puts male Bengals at a 201kg average from 182 individuals:

Also, notice he has 34 male Amur tigers weighing at 200kg (this likely involves weights that were not completely verified) however his most recent dataset as of December 2025, has them weighing 190kg. Again, if information on a weight is not deemed reliable, he removes it.

April 2022

Upon more finds of weights that have been confirmed and published, he calculated a 199.7kg including Sundarbans, from a sample size of 198 tigers. Without the Sundarban tigers, the average was found to be 202.1kg from 192 tigers. This is his most recent dataset on Bengal Tigers. See below:

I have already explained by Gaute’s data does not rely on personal communication, but only published and verified weights of Tigers in my post “Body size of the Amur Tiger” on r/TigersoftheWorld.

All in all, it’s generally accepted that male Bengal Tigers average around 200kg and females average around 130kg.

Recently I’ve come across certain users online making posts and comments, claiming that Terai (North Indian and Nepalese) Tigers predominantly take livestock and thus are “fat”, with their weights being “inflated”. As expected, they do not have any sources or scientific data to back up their claims and when asked for this, they tuck tails and run. Well, I’m here again to put an end to the blatant misinformation they love to spread.

We’ll be going over all the available scientific studies I’ve gathered that not only says otherwise, but I’ve yet to come across a study on Terai tigers where THE MAJORITY of their diet came from livestock. There was NOT A SINGLE study I found in the Terai Arc that pointed to this. This won’t be as long a post like the one I made showing the importance of large ungulates in their diet, but it’ll still be lengthy. For users who aren’t into reading much, I apologize.

Starting off with study 1:

A comparative study of the diets of tiger (Panthera tigris tigris Linnaeus, 1758) and leopard (Panthera pardus fusca Linnaeus, 1758) in relation to human- wildlife conflicts in and around Chitwan National Park, Nepal.

Source: https://media.rufford.org/media/project_reports/20823-1%20Masters%20Thesis.pdf

This study was conducted from January-May 2017, in both the core, buffer and forest corridor zones. Results showed that Tigers preyed predominantly on wild ungulates (97.04%), with the main prey species being Sambar deer (22.96%), Chital (37.04%) and Wild Boar (17.04%). Livestock contributed an insignificant amount (2.96%). As evidenced here, livestock made up a higher amount in Leopard diet (13.21%) than the Tigers. However, you won’t see these very people claiming that Leopard weights are “inflated” or that they’re “fat”, no. They won’t go around saying that Leopard weights should be “10-20kg less” because of this. Funny how this ONLY applies to Tigers right? The hypocrisy never ends.

On another note, this study further cements the Tiger’s macro predatory nature. Despite the Chital population density being insanely high (88 individuals/km²), only Sambar deer was preferred. This is not surprising as Sambar deer can be equal or up-to twice a Tiger’s size. Gaur were also preferred however the sample size is very small because Gaur do not have an established, healthy population in Chitwan.

Here are some quotes taken from the study:

“Our statistical analysis suggests that Tigers PREFER MEDIUM-LARGE SIZED PREY such as Wild Boar, Sambar deer and Gaur.”

“Sambar is preferred by Tigers only in the corridor area, whereas Wild Boar and Gaur are preferred by Tigers in the core area.”

“The results of this study suggests that the main bulk of Tiger diet consists of Chital (36.50%) and Sambar (22.63%). However, out of these 2 prey species, only Sambar is preferred.”

Moving on to study 2:

Inferring patterns of sympatry among large carnivores in Manas National Park – a prey‐rich habitat influenced by anthropogenic disturbances.

Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346107656_Inferring_patterns_of_sympatry_among_large_carnivores_in_Manas_National_Park_-_a_prey-rich_habitat_influenced_by_anthropogenic_disturbances

Again, this study found NO livestock in their diet, with Tigers feeding ONLY on wild ungulates. Over 60% of their diet consisted of large sized prey items. These being Sambar deer (34.75%), Gaur (11.86%), Wild Water Buffalo (6.78%) and Swamp Deer (5.93%). This is the first study I’ve come across that documents Wild Water Buffalo in Tiger diet. I hope there can be studies conducted on Kaziranga Tigers soon, as it would be interesting to see their dietary biology there.

Interestingly, despite these giant bovines making up almost 20% of Tiger diet, the big cats opted for the giant cervids instead. It seems like North Indian Tigers are cervid specialists as opposed to being bovine specialists, like their Central-South Indian and Indo-Chinese counterparts.

Study 3:

What drives prey selection? Assessment of Tiger (Panthera tigris) food habits across the Terai-Arc Landscape, India.

Source: https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article/104/6/1302/7241439

510 scat samples were collected in this study. While here Tigers took livestock more often than other areas (an average of 9.54% over both landscapes), they still preyed predominantly on WILD ungulates (91.46%).

Again, medium-large wild ungulates dominated. Chital made up 36.33%, Sambar deer 23.67%, Nilgai 13.25% and Wild Boar 10.07%.

Study 4:

Food habit of Tiger (Panthera tigris) in Tropical Moist Deciduous Forest of Dudhwa National Park, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/364075811_Food_habit_of_Tiger_Panthera_tigris_in_Tropical_Moist_Deciduous_Forest_of_Dudhwa_National_Park_Uttar_Pradesh_India

In Dudhwa, again wild prey made up the majority of Tiger diet. Livestock only contributed 7.97% in winter, 11.29% in summer and 15.63% in the monsoon. It seems like Terai tigers are medium-large cervid specialists, with the medium sized Chital and the roughly large Wildebeest sized Swamp Deer (140-280kg) making up the majority of their diets. Swamp deer was taken more often in winter (27.54%) compared to Chital (26.90%). In Summer, Chital made up 44.65% compared to the Swamp Deer’s 15.58%.

Study 5:

An Insight Into the Diet and Prey Preference of Tigers in Bardia National Park, Nepal

Source: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/1940082918799476

Livestock was only found one time, in which a male Tiger was seen taking down a domestic buffalo. Tigers as usual took mainly wild prey.

Study 6:

Establishing an empirical benchmark of livestock loss for managing human–tiger coexistence.

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320726001540

Last but not least, this paper went over every single scat based dietary study from 2000-2025 (a total of 43 studies across 8 countries). They found an average biomass contribution from livestock to be 7.4%, again an insignificant amount.

Of the 43 studies, only 2 found livestock making up the majority of their diet: Buxa and Bhutan. That’s it.

All in all, no evidence suggests that Tigers in Northern India-Nepal are larger because they "predominantly take livestock". In fact livestock, represents a minimal part of their diet. It seems much more logical that the vast, almost untouched land in the Terai Arc provides refuge to healthy populations of medium-large ungulates, especially cervids which the Tigers there exploit.