While the title 'King of the Jungle' is normally reserved for the lion, it's a bit of a misnomer. Lions are more at home in the grasslands than in the jungle. The title is more appropriate for the tiger, the undisputed apex predator in its native environment. It's small wonder that the tiger has been heavily associated with strength and power in Asian cultures. As such, the Mister Year of the Tiger winner will be expected to exemplify power.
In terms of judging how the tiger Animalians will be scored, some of it was kind of standard. There was strength-testing, foot races, basic physical challenges. One particularly unique aspect of the competition was a roaring contest. Tigers have probably the most distinctive and recognizable roars in the animal kingdom. Quite often, they were used as a basis for other animals' roars in media. Particularly for lions, whose roars are meant more for long-distance communications, not unlike wolves' howling.
Anyways, the tigers' roaring would be measured using a sound level meter. Though roaring doesn't come as easily as people might think. A tiger who hasn't practiced could run out of breath too soon. Nothing really defuses a roar's power than having a coughing fit in the middle of it. The tigers' roars were measured in length and volume. Quite a few people in the audience, particularly Animalians with sensitive ears, had to put in ear plugs for this part of the competition.
Competition was pretty fierce, which will only get fiercer as some tigers will fall short of the mark and not net enough points. The score here wasn't necessarily a deciding factor yet, but there were some competitors who were a bit more favored. It was no surprise that Heracles was doing pretty well here. Strictly speaking, Heracles was only half-tiger. But considering the limited number of tiger Animalians, he was allowed in. Another who stretched the term 'tiger' was Diego. Smilodons weren't closely related to any extant cat species, let alone tigers. But the name 'sabre-toothed tiger' was too ingrained in pop culture. So even though Diego lacked stripes, he was allowed to compete. Whether he'd go far is another matter.
Of the true tigers competing, there was some favor going towards the newcomer, Lenard Bearstone. For one thing, as a Siberian Tiger, he was bigger than the average tiger, with strength to match. And there has been some word backstage about how Lenard has the interest of Tuxing, possibly Liao too. Unconfirmed rumor, but cats can be notorious gossips. Still, Lenard was doing pretty well on his own merit in this part of the competition. But there would be more deciding events to come.