Can a human be stronger than a gorilla?

Quora

A silverback gorilla is pictured at a zoo in France.

Photo by Jean-Christophe Verhaegen/AFP/GettyImages

This question originally appeared on Quora.

Answer by Arkadia Moon:

Unless the gorilla is somehow hobbled (drugged, lamed, etc.), or the human fighter is armed (especially with something like a spear that can hold the gorilla off at a distance), the gorilla will kill the human and then be vaguely dejected that the human wasn’t able to put up enough of a challenge to be interesting. Consider:

A male gorilla significantly outweighs most professional fighters.
His center of gravity is closer to the ground. Wrestlers will appreciate the huge advantage involved; erect bipedality is a serious liability here.
One word: fangs.
Being a wild animal, the gorilla will throw 100 percent of his available resources into the fight from the word go. Humans—even professional fighters or soldiers—never do this, unless they are in such a state of psychosis that they might as well be wild animals. (I have seen a 5-foot-tall woman in such a state, and weighing 100 pounds, require five humans at double her weight each to take her down and hold her down.)
Because the gorilla’s fighting responses are instinctual, not trained, they will be faster than the human’s.
The gorilla’s musculature and skeleton are considerably more robust than the human’s, which means that the gorilla will soak up much more punishment before being seriously injured. This makes the human’s fighter’s main hope of winning—almost immediately incapacitating the gorilla—very problematic.

What will happen is that the gorilla will close with the human and knock him off his feet. At that point, all—all—of the human’s possible advantages are out the window, and it’s all over but the screaming, bleeding, and dying.

Answer by Kent Fung:

Highly unlikely, if no firearms or tranquilizer guns are involved.

A gorilla can reach speeds of 20 mph to 25 mph. In comparison, Usain Bolt’s record in the 100-meter dash roughly translates into 23 mph (Bolt reaches peak speeds of around 27 mph—but still).So, even if you were Usain Bolt, there’s a good chance you’re not outrunning a gorilla, and this assumes the fight takes place on a race track (where a human can really sprint) and not in a forest, where running speed isn’t much of an issue. So now, you’ve got a gorilla who most likely can catch up to all but the most elite sprinters on the planet. Conclusion: You’re not outrunning the gorilla.

The average gorilla is approximately six to 15 times as strong (depending on who you ask). All those techniques that we rely on to defeat stronger opponents aren’t going to be enough to overcome that much strength differential: You will not be arm-barring a gorilla, for instance, even if you’re Rickson Gracie.

Conclusion: Human fighter, even if you’re Brock Lesnar or Anderson Silva or whoever, is totally screwed in a straight up one-on-one fight.

Epic Guide to Gorilla Strength

How Strong is a Gorilla?

Gorillas strength is about 10 times their body weight.

Many sites claim that a gorilla can lift anywhere from 4 to 27 times their body weight. But the most common statistic that I can find states a gorilla’s strength at 10 times their body weight.

If we take an average weight of a 400 lb (181 kg) for an adult male mountain gorilla, that means that it could hypothetically lift upwards of 4,000 lb (1,810 kg)!

Gorilla Strength, Size, and Speed Summary

Strength: 10 times body weight (estimated)
Strength compared to humans: 6 times human strength (estimated)
Bite Strength: 1,300 PSI (stronger than a great white shark or lion)
Running speed: 25 mph (40 km/h)
Arm span: 8’6″ (2.6 m)
Weight: 430 lb (195 kg)
Height: 5’6″ (168 cm)
Color: Black (adult males have a silver “saddle” on their back). Adult male gorillas are known as silverbacks.
Range: Eastern Africa (Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo)
Learn more: Guide to Mountain Gorillas

But before we get started, I want to make one thing clear. No one really knows how strong a gorilla is. They haven’t competed in strong man (ape) competitions. And no one has fought a gorilla against a bear (thankfully). This post is a combination of facts and conjecture.

There is a surprising absence of real data on the strength of a gorilla. In this post, I’ve accumulated a collection of facts and some assumptions to get the conversation started. Let me know in the comments what you think!

How strong are gorillas

Gorilla Strength Comparisons

How much stronger is a gorilla than a human? At least 6X stronger than a human, everything else being equal. Which, of course, it isn’t.

Limitations: Gorillas don’t have training in lifting or fighting. For a proper comparison, we would need to compare two individuals of equal size and training.

Here’s how a gorilla would do with some common lifts used to measure human strength.

Bench Press: Gorilla vs Man

Because of their disproportionate arm/leg length ratio, they are not really built for this type of competition. But let’s just have fun and go with it anyway.

Strongest Man: 885 lb (401.5 kg) by Blaine Sumner. World Record for Heaviest Bench Press (Male)
Gorilla: 4,000 lb (1,810 kg)

Here’s a spirited discussion on a gorillas prospects for being a bench press champion.

Squats: Gorilla vs Man

Gorillas have shorter legs, limiting the range of motion – make that lift easier. But they also spend most their time on four legs – keeping their leg muscles from developing even more impressive strength.

Strongest Man: 1,036 lb (470 kg) by Andrey Malanichev at Boss of Bosses II in Mountain View.
Gorilla: 2,000 lb (905 kg) They spend most of their time crab walking – meaning that their legs are not nearly as developed nor as strong as their arms.

Deadlift: Gorilla vs Man

This would easily be the gorillas best event. Shorter legs and longer arms make gorillas mechanically favored for this lift.

Strongest Man: 1,102 lb (500 kg) Eddie Hall set a world record by completing a half tonne deadlift in Leeds, UK.
Gorilla: 2,400 lb (1,089 kg). This is based on a 6x ratio. The basis for this projection comes from a report from 1975, that was reportedly covered in Guiness Book of World Records: “100 lb chimp achieving a deadlift of 600 lb with ease.”

For more, check out this video comparing professional weight lifters to gorillas.

Silverback Gorilla Breaks Banana Tree

Displays of strength are uncommon and seldom captured. In this video, you’ll see a gorilla pull a banana tree over – and bust in into kindling as if it was a tiny branch.

If you’ve ever seen a banana tree up close, you’ll know that this isn’t nearly as easy as he makes it look. Learn more about bananas and banana plants.

The video is fuzzy and shaky – but shows his strength nice and clear.

Why Are Gorillas So Strong?

Gorillas have exceptional strength thanks to something known as robusticity.

They have both exceptional jaw strength (because of their bamboo diet) and high ratio of muscle mass which helps in competition for mates.

They have a unique physical structure, including “total body mass (TBM), forelimb to hind limb mass, joint configuration, and corresponding muscles” (Wiley).

It seems strange to many that they are so robustly built and yet are omnivores.

gorilla vs human

Are silverback gorillas aggressive?

Yes, but only sometimes. Mountain gorillas are relatively docile animals.

But you can expect aggression in a few settings.

If his group is attacked or threatened, the silverback will protect the group, protecting it with his life.
Males will show aggression to each other to establish dominance.
Males and females will occasionally display aggressive behavior but this rarely leads to serious injury.
Females frequently act aggressively toward each other.

Gorilla strength

These “battles” are purely hypothetical for a whole bunch of reasons. The greatest of which is that most of these “opponents” don’t reside in eastern Africa where the mountain gorillas live.

Gorilla vs Grizzly Bear

For this hypothetical battle, we’ll imagine an Eastern Gorilla vs a Grizzly.

Mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei)

Weight: 430 lb (195 kg)
Height: 5’6″ (168 cm)
Color: Black (adult males have a silver “saddle” on their back – thus “silverback)
Range: Eastern Africa (Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo)
Bite Strength: 1,300 PSI
Running speed: 25 mph (40 km/h)

Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos ssp.)

Weight: 400 – 790 lb (180 – 360 kg)
Height: 6’6″ (198 cm)
Color: Brown
Range: North America, with the majority in Alaska
Bite Strength: 1,250 PSI
Running speed: 35 mph (56 km/h)

According to Joe Rogan, they are both evenly matched. The gorilla has superior agility, but the bear has claws, more teeth, and is much larger.

The outcome of the battle depends on who struck first. The bear could likely kill a gorilla in one attack. But the gorilla has the strength to pull apart the bear’s mouth.

Gorilla vs Lion

This is a possible encounter, seeing that both mountain gorillas and African lions inhabit the same general area in east Africa.

However, lions spend their time on the savannah. Which might as well be worlds away from the mountains – the natural habitat of the silverback.

Gorillas live at an altitude of 5,400 – 12,400 ft (1,650 to 3,790 m). It is unlikely that these two animals would ever meet.

African Lion (Panthera leo.)

Weight: 385 lb (175 kg)
Length: 6′ to 6’10” (184 – 208 cm)
Color: Silvery grey to dark brown
Range: Sub-Saharan Africa
Bite Strength: 650 PSI
Running speed: 50 mph (80 km/h)

The African lion has a brutal, unforgiving bite. The gorilla has overwhelming strength but it’s hard to say if it could tackle a lion armed with a mouth full of teeth and claws built for hunting.

The battle could go either way – depending on time of day, terrain and strength of the individual animals. Here’s more on this virtual animal battle.

Gorilla vs Nile Crocodile

This is about as abstract as the previous matchup. Gorillas live high in the east African mountains. Nile crocodiles live in the Nile River (and surrounding waterways).

Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus)

Weight: 500 – 1,650 lb (225 – 750 kg)
Length: 11.5′ to 16.4″ (3.5 – 5 m)
Color: Dark bronze
Range: Freshwater in Africa, primarily in central, eastern and southern regions.
Bite Strength: 5000 PSI (the most powerful bite in the world)
Running speed: 21 mph (35 km/h)

A few key differences are emerging. On land, the gorilla has the upper hand in terms of speed and agility. But the crocodile has an overwhelming bite – more than 4 times the pressure a gorilla can produce. But even if the gorilla could evade the crocs insane mouth, I’m not sure what it would to do stop it.

And if they enter the water, it would be over very quickly. The croc rules the rivers and lakes.

Silverback gorilla strength

Keep reading: Guide to Gorilla Sounds and Noises and Why Do Gorillas Beat Their Chests?

Gorilla vs Humans

So based on what we have considered, a human could not go hand to hand with a gorilla and succeed. In fact, he would only survive if that was what the silverback wanted.

Here are a couple of videos to put their strength compared to ours into perspective.

Watch This Gorilla Encounter in Uganda

And here’s a glimpse of the power in a silverback gorilla. Watch how easily he knocks down this tourist.

The Only Way to Defeat a Gorilla

According to the Infographics Show, there is just one way for a human to beat a gorilla in a hand to hand battle: military grade exo-skeleton. It’s probably true.

gorilla
vs

More reading: How fast can a crocodile run?

So there you have it. The strength of a silverback gorilla compared to humans, grizzlies, lions, and crocodiles.

What do you call a group of gorillas? Guide to Gorilla Troop Size

If you enjoy this post, you should check out: Can an ostrich kill a lion?

Your Turn

What’s your opinion? How strong do you think gorillas are? Have a reference or video to share?

Please post it in the comments – I want to improve this post and make it better. Stats and facts are quite sparse on this topic.

About the Author
Latest Posts

Hi, I’m Bryan Haines. And I’m a co-founder of Storyteller.Travel. I’m a traveler and photographer.

I also blog about photography on GudPixel.

How much stronger than a human is a gorilla?

Fully grown silverbacks are in actually stronger than 20 adult humans combined. A Silverback gorilla can lift 4,000 lb (1,810 kg) on a bench press, while a well-trained man can only lift up to 885 lb (401.5 kg. Research shows that a gorilla can lift up to 27 times their full body weight.

Can a human beat a chimp?

A chimp would win a fight against a human. Although chimps and humans are carnivores with formidable fighting abilities, a chimp is far more aggressive and violent than a person. The ideal plan is to run as fast and as far as possible. Remember that a man is at a disadvantage.

What if humans had gorilla strength?

If we take an average weight of a 400 lb (181 kg) for an adult male mountain gorilla, that means that it could hypothetically lift upwards of 4,000 lb (1,810 kg)!

Why are humans not as strong as gorillas?

Summary: An evolutionary biologist argues that humans may lack the strength of chimps because our nervous systems exert more control over our muscles. Our fine motor control prevents great feats of strength, but allows us to perform delicate and uniquely human tasks.