Gorilla (Press Release)
Viral Debate Rekindles the Old Question: Could One Hundred Men Defeat a Silverback Gorilla in Hand-to-Hand Combat?
An absurd yet entertaining discussion has taken over the internet in recent days: would it be possible for 100 unarmed men to defeat a silverback gorilla in a fight? This question, which seems like it’s straight out of an old forum, has reignited memories of the Harambe case and dominated social media platforms like TikTok, Reddit, and X (formerly Twitter).
The concept is simple — though clearly unlikely: if these 100 men could act in perfect synchronization, would they have any chance against the brute strength of an adult gorilla?
According to estimates released by Kabria Gorilla Safaris, gorillas can bench press up to 1,810 kg, which is more than double what the strongest humans in the world can lift. In other words: raw power is on the gorilla’s side.
Despite this, the speculation has led to plenty of laughs. One user joked: “We’ll divide them into five groups of 20: arms, legs, head… the other 40 attack where it hurts.” Another commented: “This gorilla chaos is the closest we’ll get to the old Twitter. I’m crying laughing.”
But not everyone is convinced. One Reddit user pointed out that the space around the gorilla wouldn’t allow all the men to attack at once. “It would be a maximum of five against one. And even then, the gorilla would destroy each one.”
Others compared the fight to “trying to knock out a rock” or joked about the brutality the animal could unleash: “Imagine it ripping off a guy’s arms and using them as weapons against the others. It’s so insane it’s comical.”
Though viral this week, this type of debate is not new. In 2017, a topic on Reddit already raised the same question, asking if any human, even armed, could defeat a gorilla in combat.
Spoiler: No. A single silverback gorilla can be stronger than twenty adult men. In other words, a fifth of the human army would fall within the first few seconds.
Source and images: Unilad / Press Release. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by our editorial team.
