Page 39 - World of Animals - Issue #36
P. 39
Animal Olympians
Strongest Animal
weightlifters
Capable of lifting 1,140 times its bodyweight, the dung beetle
beats every animal when it comes to proportional strength Gorilla
With a stocky, muscular body, a male
Once worshipped by the Ancient The dung beetle’s amazing proportional silverback gorilla is approximately 15
Egyptians, the humble dung beetle is strength is due to its small size to weight times stronger than the average man.
actually the strongest animal in the world. ratio. Smaller creatures such as insects
Weighing just 2 grams (0.07 ounces), are able to lift more weight, because
but capable of pulling 2.28 kilograms (very simply put) there is less of their
(five pounds) the dung beetle has the body weight to lift too. The dung beetle 1,000kg
equivalent strength of a human being uses his incredible strength to roll up big
able to shift the weight of six double- balls of dung, and to secure and protect (2,205lb) roughly equivalent to
decker buses. his mate. an average walrus
Beetles
use dung for Elephant
sustenance and Elephants can carry around 25% of
shelter. Males feed their bodyweight; they can lift around
on the dung to build 300kg (661lb) using their trunk alone!
their strength, and the
females use dung
to protect their
17x
eggs. 1,500kg
(3,306lb)
roughly equivalent to 1
and a half Fiat 500s
Ox
Used to work the fields for farming
before modern machinery and still
useful today, ox can pull a staggeringly
heavy weight – whether that’s a plough
or a fully-loaded cart.
900kg
(141.7st)
roughly equivalent to nine
washing machines
Weight lifted
Tiger
2.86 times body weight Tigers can carry around double their
bodyweight, and can sometimes drag
Brian Shaw
1,140 times body weight their large kills up into trees.
has finished in
the top four of the
WSM competition
every year since 2011, 540kg
and has won the title
in 2011, 2013 and (1,190.5lb) roughly equivalent to six
2015. average weight adult men
Grizzly bear
A grizzly bear can easily overcome any
other predators that may cross its path.
With strong legs and long claws, it is
superiorly muscular best.
500kg
(1,102.3lb)
roughly equivalent to the weight
of a thoroughbred racehorse
= weight the animal can carry
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