How strong is a silverback gorilla? Gorillas are the largest primates on earth. They are categorized into mountain gorillas and lowland gorillas and the mountain gorillas are larger in size and stronger than lowland gorillas. these primates share 98% DNA with human beings and that’s why they have most things closely related to those of humans, for example they have both legs and hands, they can walk on legs alone, their faces possess a large resemblance to human face, the level of intelligence is very high compared to other animals’ and many other behaviours are related to human behaviour. A fully grown silverback gorilla is about twice the weight of an adult man. They are over 9 times stronger than an adult male. Their body weight and incredible strength is all because of robusticity – meaning a higher ratio of muscle mass. Would a strong adult male have a change against a silverback in a duel? Whereas no fight has been recorded between an adult male and a silverback gorilla, it is obvious who the winner will be. An angry silverback would beat the man to a pulp.
Gorillas are not only large but they are very strong as well. Mountain gorillas live on slopes of highlands and they are today only found in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. These are one of the most attractive creatures on earth today because of their interesting nature. Gorilla strength cannot be compared to that of any other primates and they are among the top 10 strongest animals on earth.
The dominant silverback gorilla leads by charisma and example. He is always peaceful and rarely uses force. A silverback gorilla only becomes aggressive when it encounters a threat, intruders or if he wants to assert dominance. Intruders can mean males from other groups, stubborn members of his group, animals like leopards or humans visiting a group that is not habituated. When a silverback gorilla recognizes a threat or silverback from another group, he will first attempt to warn off the intruder. He does this by standing up while drumming up his chest.
If the above action doesn’t work, he will tear up and through plants at the intruder while making a deafening sound. The silverback will then make a mock attack using all four legs. If all this doesn’t work and the threat or intruder hasn’t yet got the message, the silverback will attack directly and deliver a blow with the hands or teeth. A silverback gorilla will defend his group and especially infants to the death. It is one reason why poachers and pet traders target the silverback if they wish to capture an infant.
Strength of a silverback gorilla – Mountain gorillas are peaceful giant primates and they try as much as possible to avoid conflict; something that most people do not know. However, they are very destructive and fearless when they engage in fights due to their strength and size. Comparing strength of a silverback gorilla to human strength, gorillas are 4 or more times stronger than a man. A silverback gorilla can lift twice the weight of dead weight lifted by a strong human being. A common question that runs in many people’s brain is “what if a strong man got into a fight with a gorilla? Who would win the fight?” The average weight of a gorilla is 143 kg but can weigh up to 300 kg. The average weight of human beings is 80kg and among the strongest human beings is the wrestler Kane who weighs about 147 kg. Gorillas also have thicker skins and skulls compared to human beings which means that humans would require to inquire a lot of energy to cause damage to these primates.
Their arms are strong and longer than those of human beings, you can therefore imagine a punch from a thicker body to a softer one. If gorillas engage bites in the fight, there is no way a human would exchange this bite because gorilla their mouths are larger, they have much more powerful jaws and sharp teeth that can easily penetrate into the soft human flesh. Last and not the least, gorillas are wild animals and their wild nature would not let them fight you like human to human. They fight wild and this can lead to a very dangerous end of the fight. This is seen even from their own fights between silver backs or any other gorillas.
As we consider a lion as a very powerful animal, its strength doesn’t come close to silverback gorilla strength. A gorilla can lift more than 4 times the weight lifted by a lion. The strength of the bite of a gorilla is also twice as that of a lion. Gorillas are aggressive animals but they can stay calm and friendly if respected and handled with peace. Even when they have been habituated, it doesn’t take away their wild nature.
