What is the best apex predator?

Predators at the top of their food chains, with few natural enemies, if any. Land, sea and air are all represented here, from the lion and the tiger to the orca and the saltwater crocodile, alongside giants that died out long ago. Vote for the predator you rate above the rest.

1. 1
   Lion

   Africa's cooperative hunter, taking prey far larger than itself.
2. 2
   Tiger

   An ambush predator that hunts alone and can drag prey heavier than itself.
3. 3
   Great White Shark

   The ocean's most famous hunter, detecting blood in vast dilution.
4. 4
   Orca

   The sea's true apex predator, hunting in coordinated family pods.
5. 5
   Saltwater Crocodile

   The largest living reptile, with the strongest measured bite on Earth.
6. 6
   Polar Bear

   The largest land carnivore, hunting seals across sea ice.
7. 7
   Grizzly Bear

   North America's brown bear, equally at home fishing or digging.
8. 8
   Gray Wolf

   The pack hunter whose endurance wears prey down over miles.
9. 9
   Golden Eagle

   A raptor that takes prey up to the size of young deer.
10. 10
    Komodo Dragon

    The largest lizard, hunting with serrated teeth and venom.
11. 11
    Harpy Eagle

    The rainforest's heaviest eagle, plucking monkeys from the canopy.
12. 12
    Green Anaconda

    The heaviest snake alive, killing by constriction.
13. 13
    Tyrannosaurus rex

    Late Cretaceous tyrannosaur with the strongest bite of any known land animal.
14. 14
    Megalodon

    An extinct giant shark, estimated at 14 to 24 meters at its largest, that hunted whales.
15. 15
    Spinosaurus

    A sail-backed Cretaceous theropod that hunted giant fish in North African rivers.
16. 16
    Smilodon

    The saber-toothed cat of the Ice Age Americas, built to wrestle down big prey.
17. 17
    Jaguar

    The largest cat in the Americas, which often kills with a bite through the skull.

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