| Gorilla | Orangutan |
|---|---|
|
|
| Wins 83.10% of 1k fights | Wins 16.90% of 1k fights |
In this week's Fantasy Brawl the Gorilla is once again entering the battle area and facing off against another intelligent, great ape. The super strong and smart orangutan is set to engage in combat against a monstrous silverback gorilla. Let's examine their strength, speed, size, brain power, and other tools to determine who would win in a fight.
Adult male orangutans can weigh up to 220 pounds, so they're about as heavy as me at the time of writing (don't judge me, I'm working on it!). They are also roughly 4 to 5 feet tall when fully grown. Gorillas, on the other hand, are massive. Silverbacks can get up to 500 pounds and be almost six feet tall.
The gorilla completely eclipses the orangutan in both height and weight. But since size isn't always correlated with great physical strength, there is still a chance the smaller animal could be stronger. Let's see which of these two apes outputs the most raw strength.
In this case, bigger does equate to stronger, and the gorilla is leagues away from the orangutan when it comes to physical prowess. Orangutans have more specialized muscles that enable them to climb, crack open hard objects with tools, and swing through the canopy with ease.
In short, there just isn't an evolutionary need for these apes to have explosive power. Gorillas, however, are much different. They are built like bodybuilders with massive upper body muscles that allow for quick, powerful bursts of strength. These are the types of muscles you want in a fight, and the gorilla has plenty at its disposal.
So, the edge in both size and strength goes to the silverback. Speed and agility are also major factors in a battle. Let's see which of these apes is the quicker of the two.
On land, gorillas are faster than orangutans, but in the trees, orangutans blaze past gorillas. The gorilla's locomotive abilities almost make it quadrupedal. It uses a 'knuckle-walking', caveman-like motion for ground movements, giving it four points of contact with the ground and allowing for faster movements.
Orangutan builds are not suited for ground movement. They have long arms, curved fingers, and very flexible joints, which makes any sort of ground movement slow and awkward. Their best chance in a fight is to keep the battle as close to trees as possible. Both animals are specialized for speed to suit their environments, but since a fight is most likely to take place on land, the gorilla takes the edge again. Things aren't looking great for our favorite orange ape. Maybe there's a chance in the aggression department, as we learned from Chimp vs Gorilla that the latter is quite peaceful.
Gorillas are largely very peaceful animals. Even the biggest, baddest silverback would rather scare you off than engage in fisticuffs. The apes simply aren't wired for aggressive behavior. So, you would think the orangutan would at least win here...right? Wrong!
If gorillas are peaceful, then orangutans are hippies who would rather run than engage in any sort of confrontation. Even the males aren't known to be violent when faced with threats. They are solitary creatures who just want to eat, sleep, and swing on trees. When it comes to aggression, gorillas are surprisingly the winner. But, how about brain power? Can the orangutan win in the intelligence department? Let's find out.
The gorilla is a very smart animal but is completely outclassed when compared with the orangutan. Orangutans possess far greater cognitive flexibility and have superior problem-solving skills. These animals have been known to pick locks, escape zoo enclosures, use umbrellas, saw wood, and even wash clothes.
These feats are truly scary to watch as their behavior can be extremely human-like at times. They are so smart, in fact, it wouldn't surprise me if one figured out how to access a weapon strong enough to take down a gorilla. With that in mind, it's time for both animals to step into the battle arena and decide once and for all who the top ape is.
Given that both animals live in different parts of the world—the orangutan in Borneo and the gorilla in central Africa—a fight would probably only take place in a zoo. So, that's where our scenario will take place: A male orangutan escapes his enclosure, and his curiosity leads him to wander into the home of a silverback gorilla. All the orangutan has in his hand is the makeshift metal tool he used to escape.
Once in the cage, the gorilla immediately notices the curious orange ape and beats his chest in an effort to ward off the intruder. The orangutan, ever curious, presses on since he's inadvertently closed the door to his only exit. The silverback, seeing that the orangutan is not retreating, is no longer bluffing and charges at the orangutan.
The latter, seeing no way to retreat, lashes out at the charging ape and lands a number of well-placed blows that do not faze his muscular opponent. He even tries to use the makeshift lock-picking tool to no avail. After the gorilla strikes back with a few devastating punches and near-fatal bites, the orangutan is defeated, and a brave, underpaid zookeeper retrieves the orangutan and takes him offline permanently.
The gorilla once again reigns supreme against the smarter foe. Orangutans, while smart, are not strong enough to do any significant damage to a male gorilla. Nor are they able to tank very many hits from an angry silverback. It's also not likely they would fashion a shank or any other weapon strong enough to damage a gorilla in time for the impromptu battle.
If you enjoyed this battle then you'll love the avian war between the mighty eagle and the swift osprey. And, as always, if you have any suggestions for the site or feel like saying hello, I'm only a tweet away @devmatt954.
Posted by: Matt Irving on 10/13/2024
