Lion Kills Tiger in Zoo

A lion is kept in a cage at Jeonju Zoo, North Jeolla Province, Wednesday, after attacking and killing a tiger in the zoo. The body of the dead tiger was taken to a veterinary hospital in the zoo. / Yonhap

By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter

If a lion and a tiger fight, which will win?

At a zoo in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, a lion did.

A male lion killed a female tiger by biting her in the neck at Jeonju Zoo around 3:40 p.m. Wednesday.

The incident occurred when the five-year-old lion, named ``Cheongi,'' fell into a trench five meters below his yard, which segregates the pen from zoo visitors, while attempting to catch a chicken that a zookeeper had thrown to him.

Right after the lion's falling, the tiger, six-year-old ``Hobi,'' who was in her pen next to Cheongi's, jumped into the trench. ``Hobi, excited while watching it, jumped down to the trench. She made a poor landing, then Cheongi attacked her, bit a fatal spot, and killed her,'' the zookeeper said.

The lion and the tiger were similar in length, but the former was heavier by about 20 kilograms, weighing 110 kilograms. Hobi, a Siberian tiger, was moved to the zoo in 2006.

``It is rare that a tiger and a lion fight. The lion seems to have thought the tiger invaded his territory and attacked her,'' the zookeeper said. He said that the outcome of fight between a lion and a tiger depends on which gets a head start and which is more aggressive, adding that neither animal is always superior to the other.

The zoo plans to donate the body of the tiger to Chonbuk National University.

rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr