Grizzly Bear vs. Gorilla

[MarkDavis'Haircut]

Who wins?

[Bwana]

Originally Posted by ChiefsFanatic

WTF? A Silverback Gorilla has the functional strength of 20 adult men.

Any Gorilla, especially a Silverback, would probably kill the bear, but sustain damage.

I don't think a bear, unless protecting cubs, would even think about attacking a Gorilla.

[ChiefsFanatic]

Also, I don't know how many of you have actual been next to a Gorilla, and a bear, but I have been with 50 feet of both, with no barrier or protection between us (not at the same time, obviously) and I am telling you, the Gorilla is 100 times scarier than the bear.

They could both obviously kill a human, but the bear, who was in the wild, didn't scare me anywhere nearly as bad as the Gorilla. Stupidly, I felt like I could live through the bear encounter if things went south. There was cover, obstacles, weapons, etc. It was during a hunting trip. Actually, it was my very first hunting trip, and my last hunting trip.

The Gorilla on the other hand, nearly made me piss myself. That's not hyperbole. I felt like my life could easily end in a split second. It grunted really loudly, and my soul left my body for a moment. I was in a ridiculous situation at the Atlanta Zoo in a work capacity and ended up somewhere I had no business being.

So, I don't care about evidence this, evidence that. I know how I felt in both situations, and I know which animal looked like it would win between the two from an up close perspective, and it absolutely wasn't the bear.

[Dunerdr]

Well that settles it. Gorilla it is.

[Radar Chief]

Besides the height, weight and strength advantage the grizz has something Magilla doesn't. Murder mittens.

[frozenchief]

Originally Posted by ChiefsFanatic

Also, I don't know how many of you have actual been next to a Gorilla, and a bear, but I have been with 50 feet of both, with no barrier or protection between us (not at the same time, obviously) and I am telling you, the Gorilla is 100 times scarier than the bear.

They could both obviously kill a human, but the bear, who was in the wild, didn't scare me anywhere nearly as bad as the Gorilla. Stupidly, I felt like I could live through the bear encounter if things went south. There was cover, obstacles, weapons, etc. It was during a hunting trip. Actually, it was my very first hunting trip, and my last hunting trip.

The Gorilla on the other hand, nearly made me piss myself. That's not hyperbole. I felt like my life could easily end in a split second. It grunted really loudly, and my soul left my body for a moment. I was in a ridiculous situation at the Atlanta Zoo in a work capacity and ended up somewhere I had no business being.

So, I don't care about evidence this, evidence that. I know how I felt in both situations, and I know which animal looked like it would win between the two from an up close perspective, and it absolutely wasn't the bear.

TL;DR: I don’t really care about facts. I know how I feel. Because I have been near both, my one experience trumps all other evidence.

[suzzer99]

Originally Posted by kysirsoze

I think a gorilla and a black bear would just keep running away from each other.

Yeah, other than the weight advantage, which some consider a factor while others like me try to normalize and compare animals of roughly the same weight - the other big missing detail in this is motivation. Why are they fighting each other?

If a gorilla is trying to protect his troop, he's going to be very motivated. But the grizzly, not seeing gorillas as normal prey, will probably just try to look elsewhere for a meal. And the bear is never going to see the gorilla as a rival male competing for mates.

So you kind of have to confine them to a cage or something. In that case I think the bear has an advantage, because the gorilla's nimbleness is negated.

Otherwise there's really no realistic scenario where they both want to fight each other.

[ThaVirus]

Im trying to find the article with no luck but I once read about how they used to set up fighting pits in California in the 1800s during the gold rush. It originally started with bears vs bulls until they started upping the ante (since the bears almost always won).

They had an account of a male African lion they brought to fight a Grizzly. The stupid, brave lion charged straight for the bear and got his skull crushed in one swipe lol

And that’s a male lion. I’m sure a tiger would suffer a similar fate.

All of these animals are in a class above a gorilla.

[suzzer99]

https://panthera.org/blog-post/dance...northeast-asia

A few decades ago, when I lived and worked in northeast Asia, I was tracking a male tiger named Dima that we had captured and fitted with a radio collar a few months before. He was the biggest tiger we would catch in 20 years of research in the area, and at 455 lbs, the circumference of his head was bigger than my waist and the base of his tail was as thick as my thigh. He had been moving through an area where people had summer gardens and grazed cattle, so I was having a look around to make sure he wasn’t getting himself into trouble. But what I found that day blew my mind.

I followed his tracks in light patches of early spring snow. Here — we saw he meandered through a park-like oak forest. And there — suddenly, as he approached the edge of a steep embankment, his tracks became spaced very close together. He crouched into a stalk. And when I looked over the embankment, I was shocked. Before me was a large, partially-eaten brown bear sow.

https://www.reddit.com/r/HardcoreNat...l_record_of_a/

What may be the first official record of a Siberian tiger successfully killing and predating on a male Ussuri brown bear has been reported. Recorded in the Bolshekhekhtsirsky Reserve, the remains of a mature bear devoured next to the paw and body prints of a tiger were recorded.

Siberian tigers have been known to hunt brown bears. Although I'm guessing not the biggest males.

[Otter]

Thumbs bitches. Thumbs.


Let's see a bear pull this off...



medulla oblongata? (and opposable thumbs)

[seamonster]

Can't take a vegetarian silverback seriously. They just sit around all day eating plants (communists).

But this ****ing thing is evil and would murder and eat a grizzly.



There's an inbred population of chimps in the congo with a footprint larger than a gorilla and they're known to use stone tools. They have no fear of humans (too remote) and the locals claim they hunt lions. Bear wouldn't stand a chance.

[suzzer99]

Originally Posted by seamonster

Can't take a vegetarian silverback seriously. They just sit around all day eating plants (communists).

But this ****ing thing is evil and would murder and eat a grizzly.



There's an inbred population of chimps in the congo with a footprint larger than a gorilla and they're known to use stone tools. They have no fear of humans (too remote) and the locals claim they hunt lions. Bear wouldn't stand a chance.

This is a really cool find. But the use of stone tools is a bit of a stretch. Sounds more like they smash things on rocks. https://www.theguardian.com/science/...ernationalnews

Getting there means a gruelling 40km (25-mile) trek through the jungle, from the nearest road, not to mention navigating croc-infested rivers. But when he arrived he found apes without their normal fear of humans. Chimps near the road flee immediately at the sight of people because they know the consequences of a hunter's rifle, but these animals were happy to approach him. "The further away from the road the more fearless the chimps got," he added.

Mr Hicks reports that he found a unique chimp culture. For example, unlike their cousins in other parts of Africa the chimps regularly bed down for the night in nests on the ground. Around a fifth of the nests he found were there rather than in the trees.

"How can they get away with sleeping on the ground when there are lions, leopards, golden cats around as well as other dangerous animals like elephants and buffalo?" said Mr Hicks.

"I don't like to paint them as being more aggressive, but maybe they prey on some of these predators and the predators kind of leave them alone." He is keen to point out though that they don't howl at the moon.

"The ground nests were very big and there was obviously something very unusual going on there. They are not unknown elsewhere but very unusual," said Colin Groves, an expert on primate morphology at the Australian National University in Canberra who has observed the nests in the field.

Prof Groves believes that the Bili apes should prompt a radical rethink of the family tree of chimp sub-species. He has proposed that primatologists should now recognise five different sub-divisions instead of the current four.

Mr Hicks said the animals also have what he calls a "smashing culture" - a blunt but effective way of solving problems. He has found hundreds of snails and hard-shelled fruits smashed for food, seen chimps carrying termite mounds to rocks to break them open and also found a turtle that was almost certainly smashed apart by chimps.

Like chimp populations in other parts of Africa, the Bili chimps use sticks to fish for ants, but here the tools are up to 2.5 metres long.

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by suzzer99

https://panthera.org/blog-post/dance...northeast-asia



https://www.reddit.com/r/HardcoreNat...l_record_of_a/



Siberian tigers have been known to hunt brown bears. Although I'm guessing not the biggest males.

Yep, I’ve read about this. Apparently Russian brown bears grow a bit larger than Grizzlies on average so that is an impressive kill.

Only counter I have for that is that tigers are notorious ambush hunters. There’s likely very little chance the bear even saw the tiger coming.

EDIT: Just saw your link. Makes more sense.

Given the time of the year the bear was killed, the most likely scenario is that the bear was a very old specimen that had been unable to put on enough fat to hibernate during winter times. A weakened old bear could have been seen as a potential target for the tiger to ambush. It is believed that the tiger who may have performed the kill is a local male known as Odyr.

It is also important to emphasize that while this feat is very impressive and presents the first reliably documented of its kind, it doesn't showcase a one-way relationship. Male brown bears too have killed adult female tigers and young males. It's possible that a male brown bear in its prime age and health would be a much more difficult target for a male tiger, and given the size disparity could turn the tables in favour of the bear on a face-to-face confrontation. Brown bears are known for displacing tigers, including males, of their kills as well

Originally Posted by seamonster

Can't take a vegetarian silverback seriously. They just sit around all day eating plants (communists).

But this ****ing thing is evil and would murder and eat a grizzly.



There's an inbred population of chimps in the congo with a footprint larger than a gorilla and they're known to use stone tools. They have no fear of humans (too remote) and the locals claim they hunt lions. Bear wouldn't stand a chance.

OK, chimps weigh like 150 pounds. You’re going the wrong way.

Give this dude some meth and an AK-47 and I’d still bet my life savings on a Grizzly.

[saphojunkie]

Originally Posted by Why Not?

Legit question here. What would the gorilla's kill move be? Punch the grizzly in the head? It ain't King Kong. Choke it out? Good luck with that. Bite through it's neck? No shot. Just don't see a scenario where the gorilla could win.

I think the only way this works is by the gorilla getting two hands on the grizzly bear's jaw and breaking it, which is a common primate tactic. Tear off the hands, tear off the jaw.

Hands aren't coming off, so if the gorilla goes for the jaw, it might have a chance. Claws are a big issue.

[Balto]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

This is a hilarious visual but chain mail won’t protect the gorilla from blunt force trauma

BUT maybe protect it enough from the claws? Again, you could always declaw the bear and see what happens haha

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

I think the only way this works is by the gorilla getting two hands on the grizzly bear's jaw and breaking it, which is a common primate tactic. Tear off the hands, tear off the jaw.

Hands aren't coming off, so if the gorilla goes for the jaw, it might have a chance. Claws are a big issue.

Yeah - the claws are still there and now the bear is REALLY pissed off.

You see those videos? That bear had a gash in its side the size of a dinner plate - gave no ****s. In the other video, the other bear had an entire mouth-full of his neck and he was still spinning around and slashing.

I recently read a book called Icebound about William Berents and what ultimately became his final expedition. These guys essentially say "if you see one, don't run because it will catch you and don't shoot it because you'll just make it mad..."

They started traveling in large groups so that 5 of them could shoot them. A committed bear just isn't going to back off. Tear it's jaw clean the hell off if you want - all you've done is open your rib cage to those claws pretty much splitting you in two.