Atlas the Barbary lion versus the Bengal tiger of Simla its subspecies, was "the largest or most formidable of all African felidae", and therefore, that it was bigger than the Asiatic lion. However, it is not unanimously held that the Barbary and Cape lions were the largest lions (See "Physical comparison of tigers and lions"). Nevertheless, an English Colonel called 'Maitland', who supported the tiger, described the lion as a 'monster'. Both were hungry, as their diets had been reduced from their regular intake of food, beforehand. "Gettysburg Compiler" (1899) said "If the tiger was the personification of graceful strength and supple energy, the lion was the embodiment of massive
Apex predator removed, lake trout, the suppressed native apex predator, diversified its prey selection and increased its trophic level. As a terrestrial example, the badger, an apex predator, predates on and also competes with the hedgehog, a mesopredator, for food such as insects, small mammals, reptiles, amphibians and ground-nesting bird's eggs. Removal of badgers (in a trial investigating bovine tuberculosis) caused hedgehog densities to more than double. Predators that exert a top-down control on organisms in their community are often considered keystone species. The presence of any top predator (bear, big cat, wolf, dog, or especially human) can greatly alter the behavior