

This is strong enough to shatter bones with one slam. While there are no official studies, it is estimated that the punch force of gorillas is about 2,700 pounds. Similar to humans, they can throw punches if needed – something grizzly bears can’t do. However, it is likely that gorillas are a lot stronger. Likewise, a heavy grizzly running at top speed could hit the gorilla with 783 pounds of force.
Avg silverback weight full#
Transformed in pounds of force, a heavy gorilla running at full speed could hit a bear with a force of 388 pounds. However, grizzly bears are about twice as strong, managing an impact force of up to 25,200 lb.-ft./s. There are no scientific studies on the strike force grizzly bears or gorillas can muster, but both mammals are very strong.įor the purpose of this comparison, we calculated the maximum impact force of each species by multiplying the top speed each mammal can reach by the top weight.Īccording to these calculations, gorillas can manage an impact force of up to 12,500 lb.-ft./s. Gorillas’ speed drops to around 20 miles per hour. Gorillas are a lot slower, sprinting at top speeds of 25 miles per hour – and this only for short distances.įor longer distances, grizzlies can sustain a speed of about 28 miles per hour. SpeedĪnother area where grizzly bears win is the speed: these mammals can reach top speeds up to 35 miles per hour. See also How Strong Are Baboons? 6. Thus, gorillas wouldn’t have a real advantage in a fight despite their greater bite force. That’s because gorillas, like most great apes, use their molars to crush seeds and nuts, and their meat intake is typically constituted by insects. Gorillas have a much weaker force when biting with their canines, the actual force being exerted by their molars. Īn important distinction, though, is that grizzlies can typically concentrate the force on their canines – they are essentially carnivores and use their canine teeth to tear the flesh off bones. Grizzlies have strong jaws, too – a lot stronger than humans and other carnivores – but their bite force is only about 975 PSI. The great apes have very strong jaws and can exert up to 1,300 PSI of force when biting. Bite Forceĭespite their longer teeth, grizzlies actually have a weaker bite force than gorillas. Gorillas have long canines too, but they are only about two inches long. Even the cubs younger than five months have long teeth, measuring around half an inch. In fact, grizzly bear fangs can grow up to three inches long. Grizzlies are larger and heavier than gorillas, and they also have longer canine teeth – a trait that gives them an advantage during a fight. Video can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: Meet the Animals | Grizzly Bear | Wild Animals | Stories for Kindergarten () However, it is not uncommon for heavier males to weigh up to 1,700 pounds. In fact, grizzlies weigh between 200 and 720 pounds on average. In captivity, the heaviest gorilla ever recorded weighed a whopping 860 pounds, but that’s still lighter than some of the heaviest grizzly bears. Some of the largest silverbacks caught in the wild were slightly heavier but didn’t exceed 600 pounds. Silverback gorillas – adult males – weigh between 310 and 500 pounds on average, depending on the species. Not only are grizzly bears larger than gorillas, but they are also heavier.

However, some of the largest grizzlies can be about two feet taller when rising on their hind legs. Ī grizzly standing on all fours is typically shorter than a gorilla. Mountain gorillas, which are the largest of the two species, are about the same size as taller men – six feet tall. Specifically, grizzlies can grow up to eight feet in length and reach shoulder heights between three and five feet. Kodiak bears are larger than grizzlies, but they are confined to the Kodiak archipelago and isolated from all other bears. Grizzly bears are the largest in continental North America, with the exception of polar bears who only roam regions near the arctic. Grizzlies and gorillas belong to different orders and families, and they can be quite different in size. While grizzly bears are actually a brown bear subspecies, the Gorilla genus includes two species: western gorilla ( Gorilla gorilla ) and eastern or mountain gorilla ( Gorilla beringei ). This family includes black and polar bears, all of which belong to the order Carnivora. Grizzly bears are a type of brown bear ( Ursus arctos ) and part of the Ursidae family. This is the same family humans belong to, in the order of primates. Gorillas are great apes and part of the Hominidae family. Grizzly bears and gorillas may be similar in color and size, but they are very different mammals.
