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 of such a smaller predator as a badger. Apex predators can have profound effects on ecosystems, as the consequences of both controlling prey density and restricting smaller predators, and may be capable of self-regulation. They are central to the functioning of ecosystems, the regulation of disease, and the maintenance of biodiversity. When introduced to subarctic islands, for example, Arctic foxes' predation of seabirds has been shown to turn grassland into tundra. Such wide-ranging effects on lower levels of an ecosystem are termed trophic cascades. The removal of top-level predators, often through human agency, can cause or disrupt trophic cascades. For