🦁 Lion vs Polar bear 🐻❄️
The lion is about twice as long as the polar bear. The polar bear weighs about twice as much as the lion.
| Row | 🦁 Lion | 🐻❄️ Polar bear |
|---|---|---|
| Top speed Neither has a checked number yet. | no checked number yet | no checked number yet |
| Weight The polar bear weighs about twice as much as the lion. | 414 lb188 kg1 | 399 to 1,450 lb181 to 658 kg2 |
| Lives The polar bear usually lives about one and a half times as long as the lion. | 16 years16 years3 | 25 years25 years2 |
| Eats Both eat meat. | zebras, wildebeest, buffalo and other grazing animals | mostly seals, caught at holes in the sea ice |
| Lives in They live in different kinds of places, so they would hardly ever meet. | the savannas of Africa, and one forest in India | the Arctic, on the sea ice around the North Pole |
Which one? Lion or polar bear
🏁 Who would win the race?
We don't have a checked top speed for the lion or the polar bear yet, so there is no race.
We only race. Real animals mostly avoid each other. A race is the only fair contest: who reaches the tree first, by top speed.
Compare two more
Getting the animals ready…
📤 Share this pair
The link carries only the two animals’ names: peabody.kids/animals/compare/lion-vs-polar-bear
Where these numbers come from
- US Fish and Wildlife Service, Federal Register 2015 (Listing Two Lion Subspecies), checked 30 October 2026.
- National Park Service, checked 30 October 2026.
- Smithsonian's National Zoo, Lion, checked 30 October 2026.