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Why no tigers in westeros?


The Frosted King

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Most likely it was mix of both reasons. Lions are known in medieval bestiary, and was used as amusment in Arenas of Ancient Rome. Also, lion is powerful symbol, more common than tiger, and is far better represented in culture and literature than tiger.

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The Tiger is a pretty powerful symbol, but Western noble families have been using the Lion as a symbol for centuries, even ones that'd never seen a real lion in the flesh. Heck the symbol of the Republic of Venice was "St. Mark's Lion," which does not even really look like a lion.

I thought the actual Lannister lions were actually cougars or pumas, as opposed to African style lions. Maybe the cougars just have manes in Westeros. I donno.

Only GRRM knows why there are no tigers. Though I think of the "Shadowcat" as a kind of inverted tiger/snow leopard hybrid, with white patterns on black base...

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I don't think he would have had enough time to include every animal in the world in Westeros, so he had to make some harsh decisions. And let's face it, a tiger is just a lion with less hair in terms of heraldry. He did include the Tiger political party in Volantis.

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Tigers are usually solitary creatures, not really a good symbol for a family crest. Or at least that's how I look at it.

I don't think 1000 European nobles knew that much about Lion habits. I think they probably just thought the lion looked cool.

I wonder why no one in Westeros has taken the Shadowcat for their sigil.. Heck, when you've got a mass of CRABS as your proud family banner, I'd think a cool looking black and white cat would be a step up!

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In the Real World lions are only to be found in Africa if I am not mistaken, while Tigers only occur naturally in Asia.

I don't know that there is need of any additional justification beyond geographical availability.

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I wonder why no one in Westeros has taken the Shadowcat for their sigil.. Heck, when you've got a mass of CRABS as your proud family banner, I'd think a cool looking black and white cat would be a step up!

Well we don't know every last Lord and landed Knight. There might just be one.
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The coats of arms in westeros are based around the real coats of arms of the european lords, the reason they preferred lions instead of tigers, is that tigers are lone predators, lions are leaders of a pack, they dont pick the lone predator to represent them, its supposed to show everyone what their house is about, being seen as a loner isnt really going to make a good impression, even if you are a strong loner.

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In the Real World â„¢ lions are only to be found in Africa if I am not mistaken, while Tigers only occur naturally in Asia.

I don't know that there is need of any additional justification beyond geographical availability.

That's what I was thinking. Don't tigers generally live in a sub-tropical area? Excluding Siberia, of course. Westeros seems to have a geographical setting very similar to Europe, so yeah, we won't see many tigers there. As for lions, I don't think there are any in Westeros. The only place where they could possibly be is Dorne, and even that's a stretch.

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Didnt the "political parties" of Volantis consist of tigers and elephant? I dont think they would know about these animals had they not existed.

Thats why sometimes Volantis reminds me of India.

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Probably because they don't live in the habitats described in Westeros, with the possible exception of the North. They live where Asian wolves live. Wolves and tigers compete for prey and since direwolves live in Westeros, it's possible that any tigers that once existed (if they ever did) have been out-competed.

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Just to playfully poke fun.....Tigers? Of all the things to wonder about, Tigers. I'm always amazed at what sticks in people's minds.

Just because nobody talks about Tigers doesn't mean they aren't around. How often do you think about Tigers or talk about them on a daily basis? Maybe they're around, I can see them being in the Dothraki Sea someplace.

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Tigers belong in climates like east and south-central Essos (including the Volantis area), Sothoryos, and the Summer Isles, not Westeros. Siberian tiger-like species could perhaps be found in the North, but they would likely have been hunted to extinction by that point. I'd imagine northern tigers could also be found in northern Essos where there's a lot of empty space for them to roam around.

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There's been no mention of guinea pigs, either. But the most plausible reason is: it didn't occur to GRRM to write about them. Sometimes... maybe that's the only answer you need.

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There are tigers all through the books just not in Westeros. One of the ships that Illyrio sends to Dany is loaded with tiger skins. The Hound says at one point, painting stripes on a frog doesn't make it a tiger, so there are plenty of references just not on sigils.

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There are tigers all through the books just not in Westeros. One of the ships that Illyrio sends to Dany is loaded with tiger skins. The Hound says at one point, painting stripes on a frog doesn't make it a tiger, so there are plenty of references just not on sigils.

True enough, but I think the OP was wondering why there don't seem to be extant tigers wandering about the place. Certainly, none of the Westerosi seem worried about bumping into one.

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