Expert: CARLOS - 11/4/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hello Carlos!

Here are some questions for you:

1.  If a silverback gorilla and a black bear of the same weight decided to wrestle around to see who was stronger and more dominant, who would win?  No claws and teeth used, just grabbing and pushing for position.

2.  How would a silverback gorilla fare in a battle against an american alligator if the fight was entirely on land?

3.  If a full-grown bull giraffe and a full-grown bull hippo got extremely mad at one another and decided to fight to the death, who would win?  Assume the fight stays entirely on land.

4.  Assume there is a 550lb green anaconda in 3ft of water.  What animals that weigh 550lbs or less could go into the water and battle the anaconda and defeat it most of the time?

5.  This question is kind of crazy!  In Greek mythology there is a 3-headed dog named Cerberus that guards the entrance to Hades.  Let's suppose that this dog is a Tosa Inu that is the same size as the largest Tosa Inu except it has 3 heads.  Assume it is game-bred.  I know this is purely hypothetical, but do you think that such a dog could defeat a silverback gorilla in battle?

6.  Who would win in a fight between a polar bear and a hippo if they both weighed the same?

7.  What is the smallest feline(weight-wise) that could battle a silverback gorilla and win most of the time?

8.  How would a full-grown OSTRICH fare against these animals?  All fights occur entirely on land and begin face-to-face.
   A. HYENA
   B. SILVERBACK GORILLA
   C. WARTHOG
   D. WILD BOAR
   E. SUN BEAR
   F. PUMA
   G. KOMODO DRAGON
   H. CASSOWARY
   I. ANACONDA
   J. BLACK CAIMAN
   K. KANGAROO
   L. ORYX

thank you very much!

ANSWER: HEY BRAD,GOOD TO HEAR FROM YOU AGAIN, HERE WE GO:

1) SILVER BACK GORILLA AND BLACK BEAR OF THE SAME WEIGHT, THE BLACK BEAR WOULD STILL BE STRONGER, BEARS HAVE VERY DENSE BONES, AND EVEN A BLACK BEAR WHICH IS NOT AS STRONG AS GRIZZLY ARE VERY GOOD AT GRAPPLING AND WRESTLING.  ALSO TOO THE BLACK BEAR WOULD BE SOMEWHAT TALLER THEN THE GORILLA.

2. A SILVER BACK WOULD DO WELL AGAINST AN AMERICAN ALLIGATOR ON LAND,IT IS INTELLIGENT ENOUGH TO AVOID THE GATOR TILL IT WAS WORN OUT AND THEN IT COULD SUCCESSFULLY,WRESTLE IT TO THE GROUND AND EITHER STRANGLE IT OR FINISH IT OFF WITH A BITE TO THE SKULL.

3.  A KICK FROM THE GIRAFFE TO THE HIPPO WOULD PROBABLY ABLE TO BREAK EITHER THE UPPER OR LOWER JAW, WHICH WOULD ALLOW IT TO WIN, HOWEVER IF THE HIPPO IS ABLE TO DELIVER A GOOD BITE TO EITHER LEGS OF THE GIRAFFE IT WOULD BREAK IT AS THEY ARE ABLE TO BITE CROCODILES IN HALF, IF THIS HAPPENS THE GIRAFFE WOULD BE IN TROUBLE. SO I  WOULD SAY WHOEVER GOT THE FIRST GOOD STRIKE.

4.  I BELIEVE A 550LB BENGAL TIGER, A 550 LB GRIZZLY, OR POLAR BEAR, WOULD BE ABLE TO DEFEAT THE ANACONDA,YOU SEE THESE PREDATORS ARE ALL AQUATIC AND WITH ONLY THREE FEET OF WATER, THEY WOULD HAVE LITTLE PROBLEM PREVAILING, IT WOULD ALSO FACTOR IF THE WATER WAS CLEAR SO THEY COULD SEE THE SNAKE.

5. I WOULD HAVE TO GO WITH THE SILVERBACK ON THIS ONE, YOU SEE IF THE TOSA HAD THREE HEADS IT WOULD CHARGE FORWARD STRAIGHT FOR THE GORILLA, I CAN SEE THE GORILLA LIFTING BOTH POWERFUL ARMS WITH HIS FISTS CLUTCHED AND SLAMMING THEM DOWN ON THE TWO HEADS ON THE SIDE, WITH ENOUGH FORCE TO CRUSH BOTH HEADS, THIS WOULD LEAVE ONLY THE HEAD IN THE MIDDLE WHICH  WOULD PROBABLY INJURE THE GORILLA AT FIRST,HOWEVER WITH TWO HEADS DOWN THE GORILLA WOULD HAVE NO TROUBLE DISPATCHING, THE THIRD.

6.  THIS WOULD BE A CLOSE MATCH AT EQUAL SIZES THE POLAR BEAR WOULD BE STRONGER, HOWEVER , THE HIPPO WOULD HAVE FORMIDABLE JAWS THAT COULD STILL DO DAMAGE, HOWEVER, IF THE BEAR LANDED A PAW SWIPE TO THE HEAD OF THE HIPPO WHILE AVOIDING ITS JAWS I WOULD GIVE IT THE WIN AND THE ADVANTAGE IN THIS FIGHT.  YOU SEE BEING MUCH LESS SMALLER THEN AN AVERAGE HIPPO ITS BITE WOULD NOT CAUSE THE DAMAGE THAT A REGULAR SIZE HIPPO WOULD AND BEARS HAVE A THICK LAYER OF BLUBBER, AND ARE RESISTANT TO INJURY.

7.THE SMALLEST FELINE THAT COULD TACKLE A SILVERBACK IS A LEOPARD.  YOU SEE THERE ARE DOCUMENTED CASES OF LEOPARDS HUNTING AND KILLING SILVER BACKS IN THE WILD BY, DISEMBOWELING THEIR VULNERABLE STOMACH WITH THEIR RAZOR SHARP CLAWS.

8.OSTRICH AGAINST
A.HYENA- THE OSTRICH WOULD BE ABLE TO FEND OFF THE HYENA WITH ITS POWERFUL KICKS, HOWEVER, IF THE HYENA GOT A GOOD BITE ON ONE OF THE OSTRICHES LEGS IT WOULD BREAK IT WITH EASE.

B. I BELIEVE THE SILVERBACK WOULD BE SMART ENOUGH TO AVOID THE OST

C.  WARTHOG- THE OSTRICH WOULD BE ABLE TO KEEP IT AT BAY, HOWEVER THE WARTHOG WOULD CAUSE IT SOME INJURIES

D.  THE LARGEST WILD BOAR WOULD BE VERY AGGRESSIVE AND IT HAS A VERY TOUGH HIDE AND IT ALSO OUTWEIGHS THE OSTRICH, THIS WOULD GO TO THE WILD BOAR.

E.  SUN BEAR - THE SUN BEAR NOT BEING AS AGILE AS A CAT WOULD HAVE TROUBLE REACHING THE OSTRICHES VULNERABLE NECK, ONE KICK WOULD SEVERELY INJURE THE SMALL BEAR WHICH MAKES IT THE LOSER.

F  PUMA - THE PUMA IS FAST AND AGILE WOULD BE ABLE TO BRING DOWN THE OSTRICH AND BE MORE THEN CAPABLE OF AVOIDING ITS KICKS.

G.KOMODO DRAGON - THE OSTRICH WOULD DEFEAT THE KOMODO, UP FRONT HOWEVER, IF THE KOMODO GETS IN JUST ONE BITE THE OSTRICH WOULD DIE DAYS LATER.

H.  CASSOWARY- THEY BOTH THE SAME WEAPONS HOWEVER THE OSTICH CAN BE TWICE AT LARGE WHICH GIVES IT THE ADVANTAGE.

I.  ANACONDA- IT WOULD BE VERY DIFFICULT FOR AN ANACONDA TO REACH THE VULNERABLE PARTS OF AN OSTRICH, ONE KICK FROM THE OSTRICH TO THE ANACONDAS HEAD WOULD END THE FIGHT.

J.  BLACK CAIMAN-  IF THE CAIMAN WAS IN THE WATER AND OSTRICH WAS BENDING DOWN FOR A DRINK THE CAIMAN COULD EASILY KILL IT BE GRABBING ITS FRAGILE NECK WITH ITS JAWS AND CRUSHING IT, IT WOULD BE TOUGH FOR THE OSTRICH TO PENETRATE THE CAIMANS SKIN ON LAND AS WELL.

K.  LOL THIS WOULD BE A FUNNY MATCH UP, BOTH HAVE ABOUT THE SAME WEAPONS HOWEVER I THINK THE KANGAROO HAS MORE WEAK POINTS THEN THE OSTRICH, THE OSTRICH ALSO IS LARGER.

L.  ORYX- THE ORYX IS LARGER AND HAS FAR DEADLIER WEAPONS IT HAS ENOUGH REACH TO PIERCE THE OSTRICHES BREAST PLATE WITH ONE THRUST WITH ITS LONG HORNS.

THANKS FOR THE QUESTIONS, HOPE TO GET SOME MORE FROM YOU SOON.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello again Carlos---
I have read a lot of the past questions and answers from as far back as 2007 on this site.  For the most part, the experts are in one accord on most of the matches...but there are a few answers of the same questions that differ somewhat...some to a small degree, and some to a large degree.  I highly respect each and every expert(past and present) and am grateful to anyone that shares knowledge.  I understand that a lot of matchups are hard to pin down to perfection because they don't ever actually happen in the wild and that each individual expert might have their own unique perspective regarding a particular contest.  For example, for the 5 answers I read about the giant panda vs gorilla matchup, there were 3 wins for the panda and 2 wins for the gorilla.  Everyone did indicate that this would be a close fight, though, so I assume that it could go both ways.  I would like to ask you some of the questions that had 2 different answers that were rather far apart to see what you think.  All of the questions primarily involve experts that are no longer active.

Here are the questions:

1.  In a land-only battle between the rhino and the hippo, I think the general consensus from the present experts is a victory for the rhino.  I believe that the rhino's horn and better mobility on land would allow it to win a large majority of the time against a hippo.  However, 2 of the experts that are no longer active stated that the fight would be close but the hippo would usually win.  I think the rhino would dominate...what do you think?  In other words, if stated as a percentage, how often would a rhino win?

2.  Every current expert that has answered the hyena vs baboon question picks the hyena as the victor even though it would not be an easy fight.  I understand that hyenas weight around twice as much and have those legendary jaws....but the baboon has 2-inch fangs(but smaller jaws) and greater mobility....I certainly see how the hyena would win most of these, but one of the past experts stated that the baboon would probably win.  How often do you think a hyena would win this?

3.  One expert from the past stated that a grizzly bear could defeat a gaur by grabbing its rump and pulling it to the ground.  I was a bit puzzled because I understand a gaur to be 3 times the weight of a grizzly bear(which I imagine has trouble with full-grown bison which are twice as heavy as the bear)...I am also quite sure the grizzly bear would not magically appear behind the gaur without having to deal with its dangerous horns.  So if a grizzly bear fought a gaur, how often would a grizzly bear pull it off?

4.  I read on another site that a silverback gorilla could defeat any of the big cats except for the male lion and the tiger...it stated that it would easily "break the bones" of any of the other cats.  I certainly do not agree with this and you and the other experts have said many times that a gorilla is usually peaceful and no match for tigers, lions or lionesses and that it would lose in a fight most of the time with the jaguar, the puma, and the leopard....even the snow leopard has been mentioned as a victor in this battle.  I would like to break it down a little bit here and ask this question to see how you view potential battles between the gorilla and some of the big cats and other large felines.  Here is the question:

A full-grown SILVERBACK GORILLA fights each of the listed felines one-on-one in a battle that starts face-to-face.  What % of the fights would the gorilla win?

vs SIBERIAN TIGER a gorilla would win ___% of the time

vs BENGAL TIGER a gorilla would win ___% of the time

vs MALE LION a gorilla would win ___% of the time

vs LIONESS a gorilla would win ___% of the time

vs JAGUAR a gorilla would win ___% of the time

vs LEOPARD a gorilla would win ___% of the time

vs PUMA a gorilla would win ___% of the time

vs SNOW LEOPARD a gorilla would win ___% of the time

vs CHEETAH a gorilla would win ___% of the time


thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge!

Answer
brad always good to hear from you here we go:

hippo vs rhino-  well i assume you are talking about the white rhino, which is greatly larger then the black rhino.   ON LAND I WOULD SAY THE RHINO WOULD WOULD WIN IT IS MORE MANEUVERABLE ON LAND THEN THE HIPPO, AND ITS HORN WOULD BE ABLE TO PIERCE THE HIPPOS THICK SKIN. AND I BELIEVE IT WOULD BE STRONG ENOUGH TO FLIP THE HIPPO OVER AND GORE IT TO DEATH.  THE HIPPO WOULD HAVE PROBLEMS AS EVEN IF IT BIT THE RHINO ON ITS SIDE IT WOULD INJURE IT, AND AS WIDE AS ITS JAWS ARE IT WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO FULLY WRAP ITS JAWS AROUND THE RHINO ITS JUST TO LARGE, IT WOULD DO DAMAGE BUT IT WOULD TAKE MORE THEN ONE BITE IN ORDER TO KILL THE RHINO.  I BELIEVE ON LAND THE RHINO HAS MORE STAMINA AS WELL.  EVEN IF THE HIPPOS WOULD TRY AND BITE THE HEAD OF THE RHINO IT MAY KILL IT BUT IMAGINE THE RHINOS HORN WOULD PIERCE THE JAW OF THE HIPPO WHICH WOULD PROBABLY KILL IT ALSO.

HYENA VS BABOON-  I BELIEVE THAT THE HYENA WOULD WIN THIS FIGHT OVER 90% OF THE TIME, YOU SEE HYENAS ARE EXTREMELY RESILIENT TO INJURY, AND THOUGH BABOONS DO HAVE THOSE 2 INCH FANGS THEIR JAWS ARE JUST NOT THAT POWERFUL.  LIONESS HAVE STRONGER JAWS AND HAVE CLAWS AND HYENAS ARE ABLE TO WALK AWAY FROM FIGHTS WITH THEM WITH LITTLE TO NO SIGN OF INJURY.  A DETERMINED FEMALE HYENA WOULD BE MORE THEN A MATCH FOR A BABOON IN FACT I THINK A MALE WOULD WIN THIS AS WELL.

GRIZZLY BEAR VS GAUR-  WELL I WILL USE THE ALASKAN GRIZZLY WITH THIS MATCH TO KIND OF EVEN IT OUT AS THEY CAN REACH UP TO A 1000LBS.  WELL I CAN SAY THAT I DON'T AGREE WITH THE EXPERT ABOUT THE GRIZZLY ATTACKING THE GAUR FROM BEHIND THIS IS A BIG CAT STRATEGY THAT BEARS JUST DON'T USE.  A GRIZZLY WOULD FACE THE GAUR HEAD ON, YOU SEE THEY ARE RESISTANT TO INJURY, WHEN THEY WERE USED IN BULL BAITING THE BEARS WERE CONSTANTLY GORED BY BULLS, HOWEVER THIS ENRAGED THE GRIZZLY AS MANY WOULD NOT FIGHT UNTIL THIS HAPPENED.  WHEN THE BULLS WOULD CHARGE AGAIN THE BEAR WOULD GRAPPLE THE BULLS HORNS AND WRESTLE IT TO THE GROUND.  ANOTHER CASE A BULL GORED A GRIZZLY AND ENRAGED IT WHEN THE BULL CAME BACK THE GRIZZLY HIT IT DIRECTLY IN THE SKULL WITH ITS POWERFUL FOREARM KILLING IT INSTANTLY.  I BELIEVE THAT A GAUR COULD DEFEAT THE GRIZZLY 50% IF THE AS THE GRIZZLY WOULD NOT WANT TO RISK INJURY, BUT IF IT HAD NO WAY TO ESCAPE AND HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO FIGHT, AND WAS ENRAGED THE GAUR WOULD BE IN FOR A BLOODY BATTLE.

4)SILVER BACK GORILLA VS
VS A SIBERIAN TIGER A GORILLA WOULD WIN FIVE PERCENT OF TIME. I AM BEING GENEROUS WITH THE FIVER PERCENT, THE TIGER WOULD BE WAY TO MUCH OF A MATCH FOR THE GORILLA, ITS BIGGER STRONGER AND HAS BETTER WEAPONS ITS JUST NO CONTEST.

VS A BENGAL TIGER SAME AS ABOVE.

VS A MALE LION EIGHT PERCENT OF THE TIME I GIVE THE GORILLA A LITTLE MORE OF AN ADVANTAGE ONLY BECAUSE THE LION IS A LITTLE BIT SMALLER THEN THE TIGER, HOWEVER, THIS IS STILL BEING GENEROUS MALE LIONS ARE FIGHTERS THE GORILLA JUST WOULD NOT STAND A CHANCE.

VS A LIONESS TEN PERCENT OF THE TIME - THOUGH THE LIONESS MAY BE SMALLER THEN THE GORILLA SHE IS FAR MORE POWERFUL AND IS A PREDATOR, HAVE YOU SEEN THE MUSCLES ON SOME OF THESE CATS THEY ARE HUGE.  HER SHARP CLOTHES WOULD BE MORE THEN ENOUGH TO SUBDUE THE GORILLA.

VS A JAGUAR-  GORILLA WOULD WIN AROUND TEN PERCENT OF TIME.  BIG MALE JAGUARS CAN BE THE SIZE OF A LIONESS AND HAVE THE DEADLIEST KILLING TACTIC OF ALL THE CATS A BITE TO THE SKULL.  IF THE JAGUAR MANAGED TO AMBUSH THE GORILLA IF IT GOT ITS JAWS AROUND ITS SKULL IT WOULD BE OVER QUICKLY.  EVEN IF THE GORILLA GOT A GRIP FROM THE JAGUAR, IT'S LETHAL CLAWS COULD DISEMBOWEL THE GORILLA IN SECONDS.

VS A LEOPARD A GORILLA WOULD WIN TWENTY PERCENT OF THE TIME, THIS DOES ACTUALLY OCCUR IN THE WILD AND THE LEOPARD KILLS THE GORILLA BY DISEMBOWELING IT WITH ITS SHARP CLAWS, AND BY AMBUSH OF COURSE. IF THE GORILLA MANAGED TO HIT THE LEOPARD IN THE SKULL IT WOULD KILL IT HOWEVER, THE LEOPARD WOULD USE ITS AGILITY TO AVOID IT.

VS A SNOW LEOPARD A GORILLA WOULD WIN ABOUT THIRTY PERCENT OF THE TIME.  BEING SMALLER WOULD PUT THE LEOPARD  AT A DISADVANTAGE AND ALSO ITS NOT USE TO FIGHTING SUCH AN ANIMAL, HOWEVER THE SNOW LEOPARD IS VERY AGILE AND IS USE TO MOUNTAINOUS TERRITORY AND COULD KILL THE GORILLA IN THE SAME WAY AS THE LEOPARD.


VS A CHEETAH A GORILLA WOULD WIN NINETY FIVE PERCENT OF THE TIME-  THE GORILLA IS STRONGER WAY MORE POWERFUL, THE CHEETAH IS FRAGILE, AND NOT A FIGHTER AT ALL AND WOULD LOSE THE BATTLE THE MAJORITY OF THE TIME.