Gorillas are the largest primates found mainly in the large forest of the equatorial climate, especially in the Congo forest of Africa. They are too strong and protective, especially when you are a threat.
Although they co-exist with people living around the forest, they are not friendly. Gorillas can be violent when you mess up with their young ones or when you show any form of threat. But, Can a gorilla rip your arm off?
We understand how challenging the strength and character of gorillas can be distinguished. Therefore, our team has narrowed down all possible questions you could have concerning gorillas and provided you with valid answers. Learn more below.
Contents
Can a Gorilla Crush a Human Arm?
A gorilla can crush a human arm. Generally, gorillas are too strong. Its estimated strength is almost 12 times its body size. A fully grown gorilla can lift around 30 adults human from a bench, while a normal human can lift about 401kg. The strength of the gorilla is in line with its body weight. Larger gorillas are expected to be much stronger than smaller ones.
Being the largest primates, a fully grown gorilla can weigh between 120 and 300kg and have 2.7 meters of arm spans. They can grow to a height of 1.3 to 2 meters. But it all depends on the species.
Gorillas are various species well adapted to the environment they live in. For this reason, also their strength varies. The species include cross river gorilla, mountain gorilla, eastern lowland gorilla, and western lowland gorilla.
How Strong is a Gorilla Arm?
Gorilla arm can produce as much as 1400 to 3000 pounds of force in one punch. This force is strong enough to break your ribs loose or shatter your skull. That is only one arm strength; imagine combining the two. How critical will you be when caught by one adult gorilla during your adventure in the forest? Bad right?
Gorillas also have a throwing strength of around 1000 pounds of force. This is estimated to be three to four times its weight. In addition, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, gorillas can lift 815 kilograms, around 1800 pounds.
Can a Gorilla Rip Your Head Off?
A gorilla can rip your head off if positioned correctly. There are very minimum occasions for this event, and it could be hard to provide a valid answer. But depending on the known strength of a fully grown gorilla, they are capable of ripping off your head if they are located in the right position.
Gorillas are neither too friendly nor violent but expect to see their violence by being a threat to their young ones.
Read: Animals With White Fur
Gorillas like living in a colony and would do anything to protect themselves from intruders, including unfamiliar male gorillas. However, gorillas can be friendly to humans if not disturbed. If you pose a threat, they can drag, bite and even kill you if you are not protected.
How Many Humans Would It Take to Beat a Gorilla?
It’s very hard to estimate the number of humans who can beat a gorilla. It all depends on the strength of both parties. Besides, a constricted gorilla will fight to the end despite the number of individuals beating it. However, it would need at least 10 or more strong build humans to beat a full-grown gorilla.
Also, it’ll depend if the people are armed or not. An unarmed gang will never take down a fully grown and healthy gorilla simply because a man’s energy is not strong enough to hold tight to a gorilla or do anything to harm it except when using tools. On the other hand, a gorilla will always fight to the end until when all the threat is gone.
Are Gorillas Faster Than Humans?
Compared to Usain Bolt’s run, gorillas cannot be faster than humans. However, it all depends on the state of the person. According to statistics, a gorilla can run as fast as 4o kph (25mph), and Usain Bolt was recorded between 45 and 72 kph. However, a gorilla can run faster than the speed of the majority of people.
Biology explains that animals and humans have adrenaline hormones triggered, especially when frightened. This hormone increases the metabolism rate, thus, increasing energy production by the body.
A frightened person could run beyond his normal speed and sometimes exceed that of the gorilla. Also, the speed will depend on the person’s age and that of the gorilla; you cannot expect a young person to run faster than a gorilla and vice versa.
Are Gorillas Stronger Than Humans?
A fully-grown gorilla is stronger than a human. The estimated gorilla body energy is about 12 times its body weight. And a fully-grown gorilla can weigh around 120 to 300kg. When fully grown, its body size, weight, and strength also vary depending on the specie.
Generally, gorillas are much stronger than humans. A gorilla could go up to 10 times the strength of a healthy, fully grown human. From research, gorillas can lift more than 700 kg, while men can lift a maximum weight of around 400kg. Gorillas can also throw above 900 lb (450kg) of force, while a human is only 220 lb (100kg)
Can You Survive a Fight With a Gorilla?
You can survive a fight with a gorilla. But it all depends on the state you are both in. You can survive a fight with a sick gorilla, right? What about a healthy gorilla? Surviving a fight with a healthy gorilla is possible, but it depends on your luck and also skills to scare the gorilla away.
A gorilla will do anything to defend itself or its family. And will charge at you whenever you are of threat.
You’ll notice a gorilla wants to fight with you when it bites its chest, mouth wide open, exposing its fierce canines, or make loud grants. If you want to escape the attack and win the fight, you should walk away steadily, crouch down or follow gorillas’ trekking rules and regulations.
What to Do if a Gorilla Grabs You?
Stay calm whenever a gorilla holds your hand. Just like us, gorillas are primates and will likely respond to body language and react nervously by doing anything that would also make you frightened. Gorillas could respond to body language, tight muscles, or voice stress.
Therefore, it would be best if you present yourself in a non-threatening way. By staying calm, you could reduce the gorilla’s chances of seeing you as a threat.
Like an unfamiliar human being who grabs your hand, the gorilla will not have bad intentions like raping, beating, pointing a gun at you, or taking your money.
Generally, they’ll have a shallow intention and short-term idea of what they should do to you. Most probably, they get hold of your hand because you’re close to their space and would want to be under control.
Are Gorillas Friendly?
Yes, gorillas are peaceful and friendly animals. They are known to co-exist with human beings in most parts of the Congo forest. They are very gentle primates and display the character of human beings. However, these gorillas are still wild animals and should never be treated like human beings.
They tend to be aggressive whenever they see a threat or are disturbed. Also, they cannot tell if you’re a threat or not, even when you happily run at it.
In addition, gorillas react differently to people they know and those they do not, especially when you are a stranger. This signifies that there are higher chances of reacting positively to people they know than those they don’t.
Also, gorillas in captivity could create stronger bonds with humans, especially those who frequently visit and take good care of them. In contrast, wild gorillas are naturally shy and would avoid humans in their natural habitat.
How Intelligent are Gorillas?
Gorillas have a brain weight of approximately 550g. However, this brain capacity does not exceed that of man. The average weight of a man’s brain is approximately to have an average of 1,250g. Therefore, human beings come first of all primates and apes last.
Read: Animals With Long Ears
However, brain capacity cannot be related to thinking ability. But if body weight and body weight relationship is to be considered, gorillas occupy the last position compared to men.
However, gorillas can learn some human skills, especially body language. This signifies that they are better off than other jungle animals when domesticated.
Final Verdict
Gorillas are the largest primates dominating most of central and western Africa. They can grow to 2 meters and have an average weight of 200kg. They are the strongest animals of all primates. A fully grown gorilla can have ten times stronger than its body weight.
Although they are friendly to humans when there is no indication of a threat, sometimes they are violent and protective of their families, especially young ones.
