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Life Sciences => Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution => Topic started by: thedoc on 19/04/2015 15:41:47

Title: How strong are gorillas?
Post by: thedoc on 19/04/2015 15:41:47

I am curious about the strength of a silver back gorilla compared to a man.
Years ago, I saw a silver back take a five foot diaemter truck tyre and mash it flat, picking it up and squashing it in and out several times, like a person playing an accordion. It would be very difficult for a big man just to pick the tyre up. How strong are these animals?
Don Childers.

Asked by Don Childers


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[chapter podcast=1000645 track=14.03.18/Naked_Scientists_Show_14.03.18_1002101.mp3](https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenakedscientists.com%2FHTML%2Ftypo3conf%2Fext%2Fnaksci_podcast%2Fgnome-settings-sound.gif&hash=f2b0d108dc173aeaa367f8db2e2171bd)  ...or Listen to the Answer[/chapter] or [download as MP3] (http://nakeddiscovery.com/downloads/split_individual/14.03.18/Naked_Scientists_Show_14.03.18_1002101.mp3)

Title: How strong are gorillas?
Post by: thedoc on 19/04/2015 15:41:47

We answered this question on the show...

Ginny -   An adult gorilla is about six times stronger, if you're talking (https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F%2Fforum%2Fcopies%2FRTEmagicC_gorilla_western_02.jpg.jpg&hash=ae06272b889dfbb97517bb47ee5498e2)about upper body strength, than an adult human.  So, that’s why they could pick up that tyre without looking like they were breaking a sweat.  If you think about it, that makes sense because, although gorillas mainly walk on the ground now, they much more recently than us swinging in the trees and they needed strong arms for that.  Even now, they walk partly on all-fours. Their arms are therefore much more frequently used to support themselves than ours are, and that’s probably one of the reasons that they're so strong.  They are actually remarkably gentle in the wild so although they could do a lot of damage, they don’t tend to.
Chris -   That’s reassuring, isn’t it?  I mean, you go and see people going and seeing these gorillas and I'm often surprised actually that you can get quite that close to them!
Ginny -   Yeah.  There's some lovely footage of David Attenborough - you wouldn’t be allowed to do this now because you'd be worried about infecting them and causing them harm - he was basically playing with a load of gorillas and they were climbing all over him.  They really do seem to accept him after a while.  It looks lovely.  I’d like to have a go at that!
Chris -   I was watching an edition of a programme about the Great Barrier Reef last night and there were whales that were coming along to inspect divers.  Animals really do seem to have a degree of curiosity about us humans, don’t they?
Ginny -   Definitely.  Particularly the most intelligent animals, which are the primates, the dolphins and whales. Also birds, like crows, are all very curious and very interested in us and very intelligent.