What’s The Strongest Animal In The World?

Brains may be the secret to humankind’s success as a species, but in the animal world there’s nothing sexier than brute force. In many cases, only the mightiest specimens ever get the chance to mate, making brawn an essential characteristic. But which creatures are stronger than the proverbial ox?

The biggest of brutes

From lions to polar bears, there are plenty of animals with a reputation for burliness and power, although it’s hard to gauge exactly how strong a particular specimen can grow. It’s been reported, for instance, that grizzlies may actually have more force than their Arctic cousins, yet no one knows for sure how much weight either species can move.

In a series of experiments for a National Geographic documentary, researchers discovered that a grizzly bear can throw a 315-kilogram (700-pound) dumpster around “like a beachball”, and estimated that an average adult has the strength of between 2.5 and five humans. However, by their own admission, the scientists never got to see the bear in action when it was angry, yet they suspect that, when sufficiently irritated, the animal could probably exert considerably more force than this.

Silverback gorillas, meanwhile, are thought to be stronger than any bear on the planet. Thanks to their incredibly powerful arms – which they use for walking, climbing, and swinging – the great apes are able to lift 800 kilograms (1,763 pounds) of dead weight.

However, the strongest of all the animals is the African bush elephant, which is reported to be capable of carrying up to 9,000 kilograms (19,800 pounds). Using just their trunks, the colossal proboscideans can lift cars and fell trees, making use of the more than 40,000 muscles and tendons within the droopy appendage.

Surprisingly, the African elephant is even stronger than the blue whale – the largest animal ever to have lived. By analyzing the mass and muscle size of 22 different cetacean species, researchers calculated that the gargantuan whale can exert around 6,300 kilograms (13,900 pounds) of force, leaving the elephant as the undisputed champ of both land and sea.

Size doesn’t matter

While the enormous African bush elephant may be able to deadlift more than any other animal, it can only shift a meager one-and-a-half times its own body weight. In this sense, it’s actually pretty puny compared to certain insects.

A species of dung beetle called the taurus scarab, for instance, can pull 1,141 times its own body weight, making it the strongest animal on the planet. Other diminutive critters with exceptional strength in relation to their body weight include leaf cutter ants and rhinoceros beetles, both of which are assisted by a remarkably durable exoskeleton.

Thankfully, these insanely strong bugs are a fraction of the size of an elephant. It’s estimated that a human-sized taurus scarab would be able to lift six double-decker buses, which would make them pretty difficult to contain, even with our nerdy intelligence.