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Fripp
SFN Regular
USA
727 Posts |
 Posted - 12/19/2005 : 06:37:05
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Completely frivolous question for you folks (since I have no idea where else I could post this and get serious responses). I just watched King Kong last night. Great movie with a great battle between Kong and not one, not two, but THREE (yes, THREE) T-rexes.
A scenario that I have had in my mind for years popped up as I was watching it: a fight between a Silverback gorilla and a Grizzly or a Polar Bear. Who would win? I think the gorilla may have a slight edge in strength but I wonder if the weight, claws, fangs and the general nasty attitude of the bear ("I am at the top of the food chain, pal") might even things up.
What do you think?
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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie
USA
4826 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2005 : 07:28:02 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Fripp
Completely frivolous question for you folks (since I have no idea where else I could post this and get serious responses). I just watched King Kong last night. Great movie with a great battle between Kong and not one, not two, but THREE (yes, THREE) T-rexes.
A scenario that I have had in my mind for years popped up as I was watching it: a fight between a Silverback gorilla and a Grizzly or a Polar Bear. Who would win? I think the gorilla may have a slight edge in strength but I wonder if the weight, claws, fangs and the general nasty attitude of the bear ("I am at the top of the food chain, pal") might even things up.
What do you think?
Claws and teeth of a natural carnivore trump the strength of a herbivore. Plus the weight advantage puts the bear over the top.
Of course, nobody, and I mean nobody (except for those damn Mothra larvae) beats Godzilla.
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Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2005 : 07:32:16 [Permalink]
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Utter nonsense, of course -- such a matchup would never take place except under artificial circumstances, the distances between the two not withstanding.
Put your money on the bear. It is a lot more aggressive than the ape and far better armed in the "Nature Red in Tooth and Claw" dept. They are also very fast and unbelievably agile for an animal of such bulk. And, although built somewhat differently, fully as strong an it's proposed opponent if not more so.
No contest!
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Fripp
SFN Regular
USA
727 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2005 : 08:18:36 [Permalink]
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| Cool. I was actually rooting for the bear... |
"What the hell is an Aluminum Falcon?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought my Dark Lord of the Sith could protect a small thermal exhaust port that's only 2-meters wide! That thing wasn't even fully paid off yet! You have any idea what this is going to do to my credit?!?!"
"What? Oh, oh, 'just rebuild it'? Oh, real [bleep]ing original. And who's gonna give me a loan, jackhole? You? You got an ATM on that torso LiteBrite?" |
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pleco
SFN Addict
USA
2998 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2005 : 08:57:34 [Permalink]
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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2005 : 10:23:37 [Permalink]
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| There's a show on Discovery Channel that pits (computer-generated) animals that would never fight in real life (geography not withstanding)... |
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trogdor
Skeptic Friend
198 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2005 : 15:14:00 [Permalink]
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bear vs. 1/2 dozen wolverines?
bear vs. moose?
pack of wolves vs. pack of valaciraptors? (sp?)
wish I could see that show but, alas, no cable. |
all eyes were on Ford Prefect. some of them were on stalks.
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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2005 : 15:55:11 [Permalink]
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| I've seen bear vrs siberian tiger (bear won), tiger vrs lion (lion won) and shark vrs hippo (hippo won). |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
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woolytoad
Skeptic Friend
313 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2005 : 18:04:17 [Permalink]
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From wikipedia
Polar bear
quote:
The largest extant land carnivore, twice the size of a tiger and weight of a lion, adult males weigh from 400 to 600 kg (900 to 1300 lb) and occasionally exceed 800 kg (1750 lb). Females are about half the size of males and normally weigh 200–300 kg (450 - 650 lb). Adult males measure 2.4 to 2.6 m (7' 10" to 8' 6"); females, 1.9 to 2.1 m (6' 3" to 6' 11"). At birth, cubs weigh 600 to 700 g. Population estimates range from 16,000 to 35,000, with about 60% in Canada.
Gorilla
quote:
Gorillas move about by knuckle-walking. Males range in height from 1.65 m to 1.75 m, and in weight from 140 kg to 165 kg. Females are about half the weight of males.
But depending on the setting, I wonder if the gorilla could outsmart the polar bear. Also seems that the gorilla possibly has a speed advantage. I'm rooting for the primate. |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2005 : 18:44:23 [Permalink]
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Bears tend to be solitary and territorial. When they meet, particularly males, they fight, unless one backs down, which a smaller bear usually will. If there is no retreat, it gets bloody in a hurry. Grizzly are also known to take animals as large as caribou, although the ones they get are usually in some way injured or sick. These take a fair amount of effort to subdue, if not already dead and being scavenged. These guys effortlessly roll boulders and rip up stumps looking for grubs abd rodents.
If what I have read about gorillas is correct, they live in a close, rather tranquil, family society and their threats are mostly just that. Their feeding is a lazy process of finding favored fruits and leaves. As for speed and agility, there might be a match, but put stamina and an aggressive personality into the equasion, and you still have......
No contest. At all.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
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and Crypto-Communist!
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trogdor
Skeptic Friend
198 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2005 : 18:52:50 [Permalink]
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quote:
But depending on the setting, I wonder if the gorilla could outsmart the polar bear. Also seems that the gorilla possibly has a speed advantage. I'm rooting for the primate.
not a chance! the gorilla might be able to avoid the polar bear,(i.e. climb a tree) but I doubt that it would have any chance of actually beating the bear. and at any rate the topic is about gizzlies ont polar bears, look at the title.
unless of cource it was one of the bloodthirsty Congo(Michael Crichton) gorrillas with the skull smashing paddles. those would kick some ass!! |
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| Edited by - trogdor on 12/19/2005 18:59:46 |
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welshdean
Skeptic Friend
United Kingdom
172 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2005 : 19:53:31 [Permalink]
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The amount of times we've had this discussion in a pub! Sheesh!
quote:
A scenario that I have had in my mind for years popped up as I was watching it: a fight between a Silverback gorilla and a Grizzly or a Polar Bear.
The Polar Bear gets the gong every time. they are BIG, stong, carniverous, HUNTERS. End of discussion, I said, so there!
The real question is, king 0 the land (us excepted) v king 0 the ocean (Great White)?
My money's still on the Polar Bear.
edited to add
I'm surprised DonKing hasn't thought of this |
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woolytoad
Skeptic Friend
313 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2005 : 21:37:41 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Fripp
A scenario that I have had in my mind for years popped up as I was watching it: a fight between a Silverback gorilla and a Grizzly or a Polar Bear.
quote:
Originally posted by Trogdor
not a chance! the gorilla might be able to avoid the polar bear,(i.e. climb a tree) but I doubt that it would have any chance of actually beating the bear.
Seeing as the Polar Bear is the larger animal, indeed, the largest land predator in the world, I went with that.
I'm still not so sure about the bear winning. If this was a straight match up, like in a ring, I'd vote bear, but Fripp never said it was. If I was a large primate capable of using tools (and I am), I wouldn't just sit there and take a beating ... |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 12/20/2005 : 03:28:27 [Permalink]
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Adult male gorillas don't climb trees for the same reason their bruin counterparts don't -- they are way too heavy for it.
I could be wrong here, but I think that, apart from ourselves, chimps are the only primate to use tools in any sort of aggressive/defensive manner, and then only clumsily. It's more of a threat gesture than an actual attack. Chimps are much more aggressive than gorillas to start with.
When it comes to dealing with large bears -- grizzly, Kodiak Island (same thing), polar, European brown and so forth -- the wise primate's weapon is distance.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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Subjectmatter
Skeptic Friend
173 Posts |
Posted - 12/22/2005 : 07:01:24 [Permalink]
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I say it's unfair to pit a gorilla against a bear. The natural weapons of a bear give it an unfair advantage.
We should first equip the gorilla with some retractable razor-sharp blades on its arms and legs. Tipped with acidic venom. And some kevlar body armour. And genetically engineer it to develop ridiculous muscle mass.
And train it to not cut itself with the blades of course...
Bring it, bear. I'm ready for you. My gorilla could handle a pack of youse polar bears! |
Sibling Atom Bomb of Couteous Debate |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
Posted - 12/22/2005 : 08:14:56 [Permalink]
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| Okay then, how about pitting the bear and the gorilla in a battle of wits? A game of chess, maybe? I say the bear is just befuddled by all those chess pieces and probably gets angry and smashes the board. The gorilla at least picks up a couple of pieces, sniffs and tastes them before loosing interest. A clear win for the gorilla… |
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