How Strong is a Gorilla? How Strong is a Silverback Gorilla? - Wild Gorilla Safaris (2024)

Gorilla strength is estimated to be about 10 times their body weight. 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.

All gorillas can tear down banana trees without trying too hard, they’ve escaped from cages by bending the iron bars, and they have a bite force of around 1300 pounds per square inch, double that of a lion.

Gorilla strength vs human: How strong is a gorilla compared to a human?

• Are gorillas strong? Of all the primates on earth, Gorillas have an attractive, muscular body just like that of human bodybuilders. Due to their muscular and well-built body, we often wonder: – how much stronger is a gorilla than a human? Or how many times stronger is a gorilla than a human?
• Gorillas are the world’s largest primates and among the top strongest animals on earth. A silverback gorilla weight is between 136 to 227 kilograms on average.
• The average weight of a human is around 80kg. Because of the great gorilla weight and muscular bodies, gorillas are considered to be 4 to 9 times stronger than an average human.
• Silverback gorilla strength: How much can gorillas lift? It is also believed that a silverback gorilla has an exceptional strength to lift twice the weight of dead weight lifted by a strong human being.
• Silverbacks earn their title as the head and guardian of gorilla troops, which can consist of anywhere between 5 to 30 gorillas.
• Their conical shaped heads consist of a crest, which is designed to help support their strong jaw muscles and teeth.

Gorilla vs human: Can a human fight a gorilla?

• The strength of a gorilla is exceptional, as noted above, and a human could not go hand in hand with a gorilla and succeed.
• In fact, if you were going up in a hand-to-hand fight against any other animal in the world, a silverback gorilla is definitely one of the worst draws you could manage. You would only survive if that was what the silverback wanted.
• Also, gorillas are wild animals and the wild nature would not let them fight you like a human to human. They fight wild and this can indeed lead to a very dangerous end of the fight.
• This is seen even from their own fights when a silverback gorilla fights with another silverback or any other gorillas.
• 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.
• In fact, if you hit a fully grown Silverback way too hard (provided you’re brave enough to actually walk up to him and do it) you will end up breaking your own arm in the attempt.
• Gorillas also have thicker skins and skulls compared to human beings which mean that humans need a lot of energy to inflict harm to these great primates.
• Mountain gorillas, for example, bear a thick coat designed to fend off the cold climate, but it can also protect from shallow strikes or bites.
• The strong arms of gorillas are also longer than those of humans; you can therefore imagine a blow from a thicker body to a softer one.

Note: Although gorillas are strong and are very capable of causing detrimental damage to those most deserving, they are very peaceful creatures and most majestic creatures you definitely enjoy watching in the wild.

The gorilla families you will visit during your Uganda gorilla safaris or Rwanda gorilla tours or the gorilla trekking safari in Congo are well habituated for visitors unless they are provoked or threaten, say when someone uses flash photography. The visitor is always advised to follow the gorilla trekking rules.

How strong is a gorilla punch? How hard can a gorilla punch?

• It is believed that a gorilla punch is strong enough to shatter your skull with one slam of its arm:/Between 1300 to 2700 pounds of force.
• Gorillas on (avg. 400 lbs) have a muscle mass density almost 4 times higher than the most heavily muscled powerful human you know.
• In simple words, if you take 5 cc volume of muscle fibre from each of human and Gorilla, the Gorilla’s muscle fibers will weigh 4 times more.
• Such is the thickness and those bones which are on average 3 times thicker, heavier and ridiculously calcified compared to a standard human bone.
• Those who have seen a full adult silverback gorilla from very close range would really know what kind of an extreme body our genetic cousin possesses.

Gorilla vs lion: Silverback gorilla vs lion

• Lions vs gorillas: Gorillas and lions all inhabit the same general area in east Africa. However, the African lion lives in the savannah which is predominantly grassland and gorillas live in thick forests usually at an altitude of 5,400 – 12,400 feet. It is not likely that these two majestic animals would ever meet.
• Gorillas are big and an adult male can weigh up to 260 kg while a male Africa lion can 225 kg which is on par with the silverback gorilla.
• African male lions have their neck encircled by a thick mane. This thick fur helps in shielding its neck when fighting and intimidating other males.
• Gorillas also have large and long canines designed not for flesh, but for intimidation. Though their jaw muscles are strong enough to tear through the bark, roots, bamboo, vines, and twigs they still pale in comparison to the predatory teeth of its opponent: the male lion.
• Gorillas’ bite force is one of the strongest in the animal kingdom. They have a bite force of around 1300 pounds per square inch, double that of a lion. However, it’s hard to say if a gorilla can fight a lion armed with a mouth full of teeth and claws built for hunting.
• Loin diet mainly consists of both large and small animals such as zebras, buffaloes and antelopes. They are known to take down prey of up to 1000 kg in size, typically by clamping down on the animal’s neck with its massive jaws. Gorillas are primarily herbivorous can also eat small insects.
• In short sprints, lions can run up to 50 miles per hour and leap up to 36 feet, giving them the advantage of speed and agility. Their weakness is that what they have in speed, they lack in endurance. Gorillas are able to reach speeds of 20 mph to 25 mph.
• Thus, though the lions are extremely powerful, they will tire quickly. The attack of lions always depends upon stealth and an accurate strike. Usually, lions give up their prey after using up all their stamina.
• But the question of who would win, gorilla Vs lion, the answer is far from a simple one. The odds could go both ways. Each animal’s chances are influenced by the setting of their battle and whether or not the two are aware of one another.

Why are gorillas so strong?

While strolling in one of the greatest national parks of Uganda such as Bwindi Impenetrable National Park or Mgahinga National Park, you will be easily able to notice that one of the visible reasons why arms of these gorillas are so muscled.

These mountain gorillas are known to walk on all fours. And by doing so, they put their arms to lots of stress-related activity that gives them enormous exercises daily. Hence, they don’t have to hit the gym to gain muscles as we tend to do.

This constant activity combined with herbivorous food like leaves, stems, bark, fruit and 142 different types of plants that might be one of the key reasons that can explain why these mountain gorillas are so strong & muscular.

To observe these Gorillas better one can have a gorilla trek in Africa, Gorilla trekkingin Uganda can be done Bwindi Impenetrable National Park & Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, Rwanda in Volcanoes National Park or the Democratic Republic of Congo in Virunga National Park and Kahuzi Biega National Park.