AboutJonathan Wright Expertise I can answer questions about wild mammals, as well as other wild animals. I can also answer questions on extinct animals and zoos.
PLEASE DON'T SEND ME ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT PETS. IF YOU ARE REALLY WORRIED, YOU SHOULD CONTACT A VETERINARIAN. PLEASE DO NOT ASSUME THAT UNPAID PEOPLE ON ALLEXPERTS ARE AVAILABLE 24 HOURS A DAY AND WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH ADVICE THE MOMENT YOUR ANIMAL GETS ILL. Find out how to look after a pet before you get it. It is unfair to keep an animal in inappropriate conditions and give it the wrong food. If you can't keep an animal in good conditions, please don't bring it into your home. I'm not a vet and I don't have any expertise in animal medicine and care. I don't agree with people taking animals out of the wild and then expecting other people to give free advice on how to look after them. It is cruel to take animals away from their parents, who are able to look after the babies and may look for them, while putting their other babies at risk. You may need a licence to look after some animals. You may be breaking the law by keeping wild animals; please check with a local wildlife organisation.
IF YOU FIND AN INJURED ANIMAL, PLEASE CONTACT A WILDLIFE VETERINARIAN OR CHARITY AND LET TRAINED STAFF LOOK AFTER THE ANIMAL. DO NOT TRY TO LOOK AFTER AN INJURED ANIMAL IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING.
Please do not remove eggs from nests. The mother birds will know the right temperature for the eggs and will not sit on them if the temperature is warm enough for them to develop naturally. It is illegal to remove eggs of some species and, unless you have an incubator or a broody hen, the egg may not develop. If you are allowed to touch the eggs, you can candle them (check details on websites) to see if the eggs are fertile. If the eggs are not fertile, they will not hatch.
I do not agree with fights between different animals. Please do not ask me questions about them.
Experience I have a zoology degree and have been interested in animals since I was two years old. I am a zoo volunteer at London Zoo. I have appeared on a BBC Radio Quiz, 'Wildbrain'.
Organizations World Wide Fund for Nature. Zoological Society of London. London Bat Group.
Publications Newsletters of London Zoo volunteers and the London Bat Group
Education/Credentials BSC degree in Zoology. 'A' levels in Zoology and Chemistry. 'O' Level in Biology.
Question Purely for speculation, not sadism -
1. pit bull vs. wolf
2. cocodile vs. shark of equal size
3. rhino vs. hippo on land
4. grizzly vs. the winnner in #3
4. male alpha gorrila vs. similar orangotan
Thanks!
Answer Dear Emmet
Thanks for your questions. Please note that I don't agree with animal fights and that most animals will avoid fights if they have no realistic chances of winning. The potential combatants weigh up their relative strengths and weaknesses and the stronger animal usually allows the weaker one to escape. I think this would be the same case in inter-species confrontations. Most predators will prey on animals smaller than they are and will not risk injury with an animal of similar size. If an animal is severely injured during a fight, it will be very vulnerable to other animals and, even if it survives, will have a less varied diet and may die of starvation, even if its wounds recover. In compiling the information below, I have visited several websites and have incorporated some research I did for earlier questions. Please note that all answers are speculative and none of them can be used to prove that in any confrontation, an individual of one species would always win against an individual of another species. I would advise you to look at http://forums.plentyoffish.com/113697datingPostpage2.aspx, which has 28 pages of correspondents speculating about animal fights. Please note that I have only studied the first five pages, as they tend to be rather repetitive and it can be confusing to work out which animals are fighting which.
1. pit bull vs. wolf http://www.wolfsa.org.za/content_behaviour.htm says that the wolf has twice the biting power of a dog. ticketoride (http://forums.plentyoffish.com/datingPosts113697.aspx)says that pound for pound a pit bull is tougher than a wolf, but says the wolf would win. While the wolf has a better biting power, the pit bull is bred to fight and would probably launch into an attack, wounding the wolf before the wolf had time to react. Unless the wolf were habituated to dogs or humans, it would tend to retreat. If escape were impossible, a wolf would fight back and could hold its own against a pit bull. I just feel that the initial ferocious attacks of a pit bull would wound the wolf sufficiently that it would have little energy to fight back, especially if it had open wounds, which the pit bull could exploit.
http://community.discoverychannel.ca/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/34910522/m/53810123 says that a great white shark beat a crocodile on Animal Face-off (see http://www.tv.com/saltwater-croc-vs.-great-white-shark/episode/321728/summary.ht...). Correspondents discussed a possible fight between a crocodile and a tiger shark. One person thought that the contestants are evenly matched. The crocodile has armoured skin, greater weight and bone-crushing jaws armed with rows of sharp teeth. The shark's jaws can crush turtle shells and the shark has great manoeuvrability and warm blood. A crocodile can fight on after losing a leg, but the tiger shark can't open its jaws wide enough to encircle the crocodile's body. One correspondent says that because salt-water crocodiles can beat great white sharks, they would have no problem beating a smaller tiger shark.
http://www.strangezoo.com/content/item/109509.html shows a hungry saltwater crocodile attacking a bull shark on a mud flat in Queensland, Australia. The crocodile savaged the shark when it entered its territory.
I think that the outcome of the fight depends on the habitat and the species concerned. Most crocodiles live in freshwater, while most sharks live in seas and oceans, although there are some freshwater sharks, while some crocodiles can live in seawater. I think the crocodile would aim for a fin or the nose of a shark, while keeping its limbs against its body. The shark and crocodile are both armoured, but I think that the shark's skin is more vulnerable than the crocodile's. I think that an aggressive crocodile would probably beat a shark of the same size, but I hope that this fight will not occur.
3. rhino vs. hippo on land. http://members.aol.com/HippoPage/hrquest.htm#part3 says that hippos and African rhinos are of similar size, have formidable weapons (the rhino's horns and the hippo's tusks) and are fierce fighters when aroused. The author thinks the hippo would win and cites Bernhard Grzimek's essay "The African Black Rhinoceros," from Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, 1972, XIII, 57-58. A hippo surfaced in a pond, grabbed a black rhino's front leg, pulled it down and tore it to pieces with its huge tusks. A correspondent at http://forums.plentyoffish.com/datingPosts113697.aspx said that the hippo would win due to its stronger jaws and bite. http://members.aol.com/HippoPage/debate.htm has several people debating a possible fight. Matthew Patten thinks the rhino would win and that the rhino's horns would get through the hippo's layers of fat. Countess Laylanie says the rhino would win because rhinos are more aggressive, have horns and are less lazy than hippos. Ramon Valencia on the same page backs the hippo, although he mentions sites where hippos and rhinos live together peacefully. He says that white rhinos tend to avoid confrontation. A rhino usually charges out of fear or confusion. Hippos are fiercely territorial and do not hesitate to attack intruders. They constantly fight amongst each other to determine superiority and dominance. The hippo's outer layer of fat protects its muscles and internal organs during fights. Hippos' jaws have great power and can bite canoes and crocodiles in half. hippo's outer layer of fat is actually quite functional. It provides insulation and buoyancy in the water, and it protects the animal's muscles and internal organs in a fight. Hippos can quickly twist and change directions. Rhinos prefer to fight by lowering their heads and charging at an opponent to try and gore it with its horns. Hippos attack the enemy's flanks. Rhinos have poor eyesight. Ramon Valenia believes the combatants would circle each other before the rhino would charge the hippo's midsection. The hippo would twist to the side and bite the rhino's flank. This would be repeated when the rhino charged again. The hippo's fat would help protect it from serious wounds from the rhino's horns. Ramon Valencia reckons the rhino would collapse from blood loss or the hippo would bite down on one of the rhino's legs. One writer suggests that rhinos would win some fights, while hippos would win others. Bussy said that the hippo would win a fight in water, while the rhino would be more likely to win on land. David Herbert agrees that the hippo would win in water, due to its teeth, strength and ability to stay under water, as well as the possibility of drowning the rhino. Jack mack (http://forums.plentyoffish.com/113697datingPostpage9.aspx) thought the rhino would run away. Several correspondents reckon that the rhino would win on land, although the consensus seems to be that the hippo's jaws are more than a match for the rhino's horns, so I shall give the benefit of the doubt to the hippo.
4. Grizzly vs. the winnner in #3 Christopher Pickwell (http://www.lairweb.org.nz/tiger/conflict14.html) says that brown bears may take moose, caribou and musk ox. Please note that grizzle bears do not naturally come into contact with hippos and any fight would be purely artificial. A correspondent in http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=1006031909635 says the hippo would win because of its larger jaws and more massive body. Most other contributors agreed, although one said that bears were more aggressive and had larger canines, while another said that the bear would win on land, because of its greater speed. Handsome n honest (http://forums.plentyoffish.com/113697datingPostpage7.aspx) says the hippo will win against a bear, due to its mouth and fat. The contributor suggests that the bear is faster and would strike first, using its claws, but the hippo would clamp down on the bear's body, breaking the rib cage and suffocating the bear. I would give the hippo the edge in a fight.
5. male alpha gorilla vs. similar orang-utan (4/5). ticketoride (http://forums.plentyoffish.com/datingPosts113697.aspx) considers a fight between a grizzly and a gorilla. He says that a gorilla has a higher strike force than a grizzly and could kill the bear. It can lift 10 times its own bodyweight. Its bite force may be 1,300-1,400 pounds of force. A silverback can become very enraged if attacked or if his family is threatened. I only found one site mentioning a fight between a gorilla and an orang-utan, but I couldn't open it. I would give my vote to the gorilla for this one – it is stronger, bigger and more powerful. The orang-utan has a powerful armspan, but I don't think it has any other major advantages against the gorilla.
Please note that all of my comments are speculative and that I hope that these fights will not be enacted in real life.
