Ape Strength: Myth vs Reality

[Shadow]

(12-12-2018, 02:53 AM)brotherbear Wrote: From my point of view, I see mostly two groups of people when it comes to the gorilla. 
First group are big fans of the old-school gorilla B-movies. From the silent film era on into the 1970s, the gorilla was a popular B-movie monster who could bend steel bars or a lion's neck. True gorilla fans view the gorilla as a fierce beast with almost unnatural strength. 
Second group see the completely opposite animal. A mild-mannered vegetarian with absolutely no fighting ability. They wonder how the gorilla has managed not to be hunted into extinction by leopards. 
I see a big strong but normally peaceful ape somewhere in the middle. Though a real scientific strength test has ( ironically ) never been applied to a gorilla, I believe them to be very strong - certainly stronger than any man. Apparently leopards view them with some amount of respect or else they truly would be rare if not extinct. I doubt that a bull gorilla is as strong as a bear of similar size, but then likely not too far behind either. 
If there were tigers in the jungles of the Congo, gorillas would have a big problem. They were perhaps unable to expand out of their forest habitats due to lions. 
Not monsters; but neither are they wimps - IMO.

There are many points of views naturally. I am not interested so much about it, what comes to predation of gorillas here because that is a different thing. I made this topic to get help in finding information about, should I say brute strength. What claims can be proved and what are just random estimations from maybe only one biologist or zoologist...  and then spread wildly and published even in newspapers as "proven facts". But when looking closer impossible to find anything really confirming what is said.

I personally think, that gorilla is quite comparable with a same sized bear because both are robust animals. Maybe bear needs to be a little bit heavier to be comparable because of that fat layer. But basically both are robust powerhouses and I can´t say which one is stronger pound to pound with current information. About bears there is some information. Observations from wildlife and footage etc. About gorillas it is much more difficult to find good information. It would be nice to see some if someone has something to share. Reply