"Is a gorilla stronger than:
-Louis Cyr, likely the greatest professional strongman of the 19th century (his greatest feat was probably when he restrained four draft horses simultaneously...is a gorilla's arms stronger than four large horses?)
-Angus MacAskill, a legendary Scottish-Canadian giant who was absurdly mighty (according to popular repute, he once carried around a 2,800 lb anchor)
-The Great Antonio (towed a 478 tonne train for 19.8 meters. Although towing a train is nothing akin to actually lifting it in any way)"
Hi all, and thanks for such informative information on Gorillas I was unable to find elsewhere. I did a search on 'google' regarding the strength of gorillas, and this site came up in my search. Hard to find definite answers, but yours will do nicely for a school paper I'm doing with my niece.
I'd also like to comment on the statements I quoted above, namely that of the late 'Louis Cyr' who was said to have restrained four draft horses. As a draft horse owner, I assure you no 'super' man can restrain four draft horses, let alone one.
Depending on the breed, a draft horse can weigh as little as 1,500 pounds, with heavier draft breeds reaching an average of 2,200 pounds.
Even the smallest draft horse, times four, would weigh in at approximately 6,000 pounds. I found it very hard to believe a man could restrain 6,000.
I don't know which type of draft horses Louis Cyr restrained, however, I do know a team of light draft horses (2 horses) can pull on average 3,400. I've seen a team of heavy draft (2 horses) horses pull close to 8,000, others have seen a team pull close to 10,000 pounds.
Regardless, I did some research and found many of those so-called strongmen, if not all, who preformed incredible tests of strength and power used trickery or exaggerated the numbers, including Louis Cyr.
Louis Cyr was indeed a strong man -- an uncommingly strong man, but the reality was, he was not nearly as strong as even one horse, let alone two or four.
For anyone interested, in 1931 'Science and Invention' printed an article describing tricks of the strongmen that anyone could accomplish, including the trick Cry used to restrain four draft horses.
In some aspects, animals are superior to humans (strength, power, speed) and I can't understand why some people are unwilling to accept that as fact.
Good day all and thanks again for the gorilla (and other species) info.
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