The eastern lowland gorilla is the largest species of gorilla. This gorilla can stand over six and a half feet and will max out at a weight of 550 pounds if living in the wild.
How strong are gorillas?
As their height and weight would imply, gorillas are powerful. The average-sized gorilla will have nearly nine times the strength of an average human.
There have been cases of zoo gorillas breaking or bending the bars of their enclosures. That effort, as one can imagine, requires outrageous strength and determination, of which the gorilla has plenty.
The silverback gorilla, which is perhaps the species of gorilla that we are most familiar with, can lift nearly 1,800 pounds in dead weight. In comparison, Iranian-born Olympic power-lifter Behdad Salimi world record snatch was 478 pounds.
Related:
Can A Silverback Gorilla Defeat A Lion, Tiger Or Bear In Battle?
How To Survive A Gorilla Attack
What do gorillas eat?
Gorillas are primarily vegetarians. Their typical meal will include bamboo shoots, stems, and fruits. Some gorillas, such as the aforementioned western lowland gorilla, will also snack on ants and termites, and are known to bust into termite nests to delight on the larvae within. In some cases, gorillas will consume aquatic plants as well.
Overall, about 67% of the gorilla’s diet will consist of fruits, 17% leaves, and the remaining 16% in seeds, stems, ants, caterpillars, and termites.
How much do gorillas eat?
To support their massive size and weight, a gorilla will typically consume 40 to 45 pounds of food per day. Once a gorilla locates a suitable food source, they will select the parts of the plant that they want to consume. Gorillas have no issues with plants that are growing in hard soil, as their significant strength will allow them to pull the plant right out of the ground.
Do gorillas eat meat?
Though many humans deny this to be the case, gorillas do not actually eat meat. Though they absolutely will attack another animal or a human if they feel threatened, they will make their kill and throw the carcass to the wayside. They do not eat the flesh or meat of other animals.
What protein do gorillas eat?
The leaves that gorillas mostly subsist upon are rich in protein, which allows the gorilla to maintain their muscular mass. Roughly 16% of a gorilla’s energy comes from protein-rich nutrition, and in the winter, the gorilla will increase their protein intake to approximately 30% of their daily diet.
When you consider that a gorilla will consume 40 to 45 pounds of food per day, and 16% to 30% is protein, it is evident that a gorilla easily consumes ten times or more protein each day than the average human.
If you have ever met with a nutritionist or personal trainer, you know that protein is critical to building muscle. Thus, it is no wonder that gorillas are so big and strong, as they grow and maintain their muscles through the high percentage of protein-rich foods that they consume each and every day.
How do herbivores get so big?
Herbivores, gorillas, in particular, grow to such a large size because they eat an exceptionally balanced diet that is designed to maximize their growth and strength. However, it is important to understand the most plants are high in cellulose, which is difficult for the body to break down. Therefore, if a gorilla is enjoying nearly 45 pounds of food per day, it is not surprising that they are also consuming a significant amount of cellulose. This cellulose builds up and turns into the bulk that we see in gorillas and other large herbivorous animals.
Are the strongest animals’ herbivores?
Many of the strongest animals in the world are, indeed, herbivores. These strong herbivorous animals include gorillas, as well as elephants, cattle, and humans. However, it is not necessarily true that herbivores will always be stronger than carnivores. The grizzly bear, anaconda, musk ox, tiger, and eagle are also at the top of the list for strong animals, but we all know that these animals are meat-eater too.
Why donʼt carnivores get as big as herbivores?
It would seem that the capacity for the strength within an animal species is primarily associated with where that animal fits within the food chain. The higher up the food chain, the more likely it is that energy is lost due to activities such as respiration and metabolism itself.
Plants are the primary producers of energy. So, animals that are consuming plants are naturally converting those plants into energy. Thus, carnivores need to consume nearly ten times as much food to get the same amount of energy as an herbivore. For this very reason, carnivores will rarely get to the same size as an herbivore.
Can I get as big and strong as a gorilla by copying what a gorilla eats?
In theory, if you were to look for the most muscular and robust human in the world, and mirror their diet and daily activity exactly, it is probable that you could get as strong and muscular as they are. That said, it is highly unlikely that a human could get to the same bulk and overall size as a gorilla. Quite simply, it is not probable that a human could survive or maintain the same diet as a gorilla, as gorillas mainly eat fruits, leaves, seeds, stems, ants, caterpillars, and termites.
The human body, additionally, is not designed to consume nearly 45 pounds of food per day. And though this is a significant amount of food, it is actually far less in terms of calories each day. Therefore, it is assumed that even if a human could tolerate the bugs that a gorilla consumes, the overall caloric intake would not be sufficient or considered healthy for the human body.
humans aren’t herbivores you lying piece of shit, we have CANINE TEETH and only ONE STOMACH. Herbivores need 4 stomachs to process cellulose
A) No where was it claimed that humans are herbivores.
B) Not all herbivores have multiple stomachs. The gorilla has only one, yet is still an herbivore with occasional insectivorism.
Umm, gorillas have bigger Canine teeth than humans.
strongest animal in the world is the BLUE WHALE AND IT EATS MEAT, THOUGH MICROSCOPIC IT’S MEAT NONETHELESS.
Calm down 😂
Cannibal eaters expressing anger towards plant based eating speaks volumes.
Go back to primordial instincts and REALLY consume an animal raw….no seasoning, no type of heat preparation…..really have it organic…if you believe it’s meant to eat animals….it’s what you were brought up with….like the majority of us….we were sold a bill of lies.
Consuming raw animal foods (meat and organs) is completely possible. Your not being able to do so is precisely because you were “brought up with” other cooked plant foods and thus you’ve lost the natural raw meat taste
EATING IS PHSYCOLOGICAL JACKASS. WHY NOT EAT OTHER HUMANS AND THEIR TENDER BABIES. THE GORRILLA WINS. WE DEVOLVED!
ape momenet (fault in our stars)
Uh, the above article is completely erroneous in a number of elements. 1. Gorillas have that big long pot belly because their gut is huge, far longer than a humans. That is what allows them to be a home to bacteria that can break down cellulose, and humans do not have the capacity for this. 2. The cellulose is not used by the gorilla, but the bacteria themselves are what actually provide the gorilla with protein. They require a huge mass of food, like most other herbivores, and unlike humans which require a calorie rich diet. 3. The foods they eat are not high in protein, except when they consume insects and the small animals they often eat. This is well documented, with long term studies including multi-year fecal samples. 4. The comment that carnivores must eat “ten times as much as an herbivore” must simply be some mad rave that failed to get edited out.
P.S. Homo Sapiens had several predecessor species that used fire to cook meat, probably going back 200-400KY. We evolved on a cooked food diet.
Don’t share too much cos it will get taken down but here’s a video of a gorilla fighting a tiger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8uCkRS-EEk&ab_channel=Movieclips
The strength of a gorilla is primarily determined by his genetics. The size of herbivores is probably driven by evolution to allow them to resist predators.
It’s not possible to find plant matter that has 30% protein. Cellulose can’t transfer to muscles directly. It must be metabolized into basic nutrients, proteins and fats, by bacteria. It is not accurate to say that carnivores consume ten times as much food; they are physically incapable of swallowing it. You probably meant that quite a lot of food went into building the plant eater’s body, which concentrated the nutrients.