# Lion vs. Kodiak Bear--who wins? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 19, 2001, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-vs-kodiak-bear-who-wins/50798 "2001-01-19T02:58:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![messiah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3e96dc/32.png) [@messiah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/messiah)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-vs-kodiak-bear-who-wins/50798/21 "2001-01-19T13:24:06Z")
After a little training, Blue Whale defeats African Elephant upon command of “ROLL” ---
**Author:** ![tsunamisurfer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@tsunamisurfer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tsunamisurfer)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-vs-kodiak-bear-who-wins/50798/22 "2001-01-19T15:05:48Z")
“Anyone who said the bear has a chance against the elephant is nuts. An average elephant weighs several tons. Even a huge bear doesn’t weigh much more than one ton. These aren’t martial artists we’re talking about here-size and strength mean everything. I say the elephant stomps just about every other animal on the list except the rhino. I think the rhino would last a lot longer because it would fight horn-first.” * * * Not sure about that. Sure, elephants have a big weight advantage, but how does an elephant put it to good use? How can a bull elephant stomp on a highly aggressive, 2,000-pound, 9-foot tall Kodiak bear? Elephants have no claws. Besides, I’m guessing a BIG bear could chop off an elephant’s trunk in one horrible swipe. As for rhinos, lots of charging power, but just how effective is it as a close-quarter fighter? It has three things going for it: 1) mass (2) a big horn (3) bad temper. But no claws, just a horn. Of course, it also has thick skin. I’m wondering: Would a bear be able to slash through a rhino’s hide? ---
**Author:** ![messiah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3e96dc/32.png) [@messiah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/messiah)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-vs-kodiak-bear-who-wins/50798/23 "2001-01-19T16:20:32Z")
In researching this question before, I discovered that in Africa lions often get a good pasting, if they attack a horse. With that in mind they would be probably be bottom of this league and ready for demotion. ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_J.Wieck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@Ronald\_J.Wieck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_J.Wieck)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-vs-kodiak-bear-who-wins/50798/24 "2001-01-19T17:04:36Z")
Very interesting. Obviously, the bear is much bigger and heavier than the lion, but then cats are just so incredibly formidable. More than once, I’ve seen a twenty-lb. tomcat tear up the snout of a German Shepherd. Incidentally, why not use the largest and most powerful cat, the Siberian tiger, as the entry in this competition? I read years ago an account of a fight between a hippo and a rhino that resulted in a draw: they both died. An African elephant would easily defeat any land animal alive today. I was somewhat dismayed to learn that the forty foot long cretaceous crocodile, Deinosuchus, would happily challenge any Tyrannosaurus that ventured too near the water. For the all-time, all-land contest, how about T-rex versus Indricotherium, an ancient hornless rhino that stood eighteen feet at the shoulder and probably weighed thirty tons or more? Ronniejames ---
**Author:** ![kuwatto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6a8cbe/32.png) [@kuwatto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kuwatto)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-vs-kodiak-bear-who-wins/50798/25 "2001-01-19T18:55:11Z")
I was under the impression the Polar Bear was the largest bear (and thus theoretically able to kick a Kodiak Grizzlies ass)so I did a little research to see if this is true. This is from [bears.org](http://bears.org). > [@](#): > > The males(Polar Bears) are huge, the heaviest of them weighing as much as 1300 pounds > [@](#): > > The males(grizzly) can weigh anywhere from 300 to 860 pounds, with the females coming in somewhere between 205 and 455 pounds. The average size of these bears is difficult to pinpoint, because it seems to depend greatly on the food sources available. The island grizzlies of Alaska (Kodiak and Admiralty) are considered the largest land carnivores in the world, and live on a diet of fish and other rich food. The inland animals are smaller by some 30%. Interesting contradiction there, they say the Kodiak Griz is the largest land carnivore but list the Polar Bear as weighing 500 pounds more. If you add 30% to the max weight they have listed for a grizzly(the supposed wieght difference between a normal grizzly and the Kodiak bear) you end up with 1118 lbs. Still a coupla hundred pounds short of the biggest polar bear. ---
**Author:** ![tsunamisurfer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@tsunamisurfer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tsunamisurfer)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-vs-kodiak-bear-who-wins/50798/26 "2001-01-19T21:04:43Z")
## I agree re: the last claim of contradictions, but throw in this citation: “… Adult Kodiak bears (Ursa a. middendorffi), the largest living land carnivore, may attain a length of more than 3 m and a weight of 780 kg.” That’s about 10-feet long and more than 1,700 pounds, though I’ve seen Discovery channel documentaries that talk about really big males that reach 1,800-2,000 pounds, during the height of feeding season. My thinking is that polar bears are sometimes a bit longer. The Kodiak’s cousin, the Kamchatka brown bear is also huge. I should also note that these bears are powerful and aggressive, though I’ve never seen one in a fight that approaches the ferocity of a 450-pound lion. ---
**Author:** ![Wolverine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@Wolverine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolverine)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-vs-kodiak-bear-who-wins/50798/27 "2001-01-19T21:10:10Z")
This is from: [http://www.state.ak.us/adfg/wildlife/region2/hunting/trivia.htm](http://www.state.ak.us/adfg/wildlife/region2/hunting/trivia.htm) “Kodiak bears are the largest bears in the world. A large male can stand over 10’ tall when on his hind legs, and 5’ when on all four legs. They weigh up to 1,500 pounds.” I did a report on them in high school. They are huge and nothing dares challenge them. Of course hippos, rhinos, and elephants don’t live in the same area as them. If all the animals were miracously the same size, my money would be on the Wolverine. Go figure. Unfortunately, they are different sizes and the Wolverine doesn’t stand a chance. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-vs-kodiak-bear-who-wins/50798/28 "2001-01-19T21:27:48Z")
Everybody’s done a pretty good job deconstructing the various head-to-head matches with the species provided, so let’s make it interesting… …Add a “Junkyard Wars” team to the tournament. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tsunamisurfer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@tsunamisurfer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tsunamisurfer)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-vs-kodiak-bear-who-wins/50798/29 "2001-01-19T23:01:31Z")
I’ve seen footage of a wolverine backing up a grizzly bear. The bear seemed astonished by the beast’s ferocity. Back to my earlier question: how does a bull elephant stomp a huge bear rising on its rear legs? ---
**Author:** ![OrcaChow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e47c2d/32.png) [@OrcaChow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OrcaChow)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2001, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-vs-kodiak-bear-who-wins/50798/30 "2001-01-20T03:35:05Z")
> [@](#): > > Back to my earlier question: how does a bull elephant stomp a huge bear rising on its rear legs? Answer: It doesn’t. But an elephant can kick okay, and there’s that video of the circus elephant running amok in Hawaii. Using the top of its head, it rammed a few cars, and pinned and crushed one man against the pavement. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2001, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-vs-kodiak-bear-who-wins/50798/31 "2001-01-20T18:14:46Z")
The Romans used to pit various animals against each other for their entertainment. Tigers v lions were a common feature, the tiger usually won out being a large and heavier animal. Interesting that someone notes how fast a rhino can run and that this would be decisive against an elephant, except of course that elephants are plenty fast enough too. Ever noticed how lions leave adult giraffes well alone ? A kick from one of these can decapitate a lion. Bears do not like to rear up on their hind legs as it exposes their most vulnerable areas, especially when they are so well equipped with their huge claws and powerful jaws.Does not mean to say that they won’t just that it is not their favoured method of attack. A male elephant undergoing ‘must’ is a fearsome adversary, it would simply flatten a bear. Some elephants do not have tusks and instead their trunk grows much more powerfully, these are especially dangerous animals.Just think how powerful that trunk is, they can work all day literally picking up logs of huge weights, a clout from one of these would send a rhino off to sleepyville methinks. ---
**Author:** ![Gianluca70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/67e7ee/32.png) [@Gianluca70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gianluca70)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-vs-kodiak-bear-who-wins/50798/32 "2011-12-25T13:38:57Z")
1. African elephant 2. black (or white) rhino 3. hippo or Kodiak bear/grizzly 😕 4. hippo or Kodiak bear/grizzly 😕 5. Cape buffalo 6. bull 7. African lion or Bengal tiger 😕 8. African lion or Bengal tiger 😕 I’m not so sure that a hippo would win so easily against a grizzly bear … the bear has enormous power and has very long claws that can puncture the skin of the hippo, the hippo on the other hand weighs more than twice has two enormous canines that could inflict serious damage to the Grizzly … then I’d say a 50-50. As for the Bengal tiger is smaller and lighter than the Siberian … I would say he would win the Siberian 7 out of 10 times against the male African lion, while that of Bengal, perhaps we are on a 3-4 against 7-6 in favor of the lion. Do not forget that the lion has the advantage of the mane, withers, has the highest ever and leads the attack with both front legs, while the tiger would seem to tend to use the quick jab leaning on his hind legs (like domestic cats), then “cariva” less legs (but it also exposes less than the lion). I say that the Siberian tiger would win 7 / 10 times because she is powerful like size and has a reserve of fat that may protect it, has also been shown that tigers once they realize they can not switch on the side of the mane tend to hurt elsewhere (which they do already when male lions fight each other for the possession of the territory, precisely to avoid biting on the mane). Regarding Kaffir buffalo and bull, I believe that the specimens in the prime of their physical vigor can easily get the better of every lion and tiger, especially the bull (when he fought in the arenas of ancient Rome, often causing damage even the bears, because horns). The elephant is unattainable for any land mammal, given the size and the enormous tusks … only lose the rhino elephant, is a monster of over 2 tons and a half to load at 50 km / h with a horn long and sharp, also has a hard impenetrable armor. The grizzly bear (and the kodiak) win even against 3 lions together (or two lions and a tiger etc… Any combination), but against the rhinoceros do not think it chances to come out alive … the long frontal horn would be lethal if he went to sign, and a hand-to-body would only benefit the rhinoceros, given the amount and strength of the beast (a rhino is able to lift off the ground the buffalo with only the horn, when stationary). Any collision would knock the bear, too. ---
**Author:** ![Horseface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4af34b/32.png) [@Horseface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseface)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-vs-kodiak-bear-who-wins/50798/33 "2011-12-25T14:38:03Z")
The Elephant wins in less than 5 rounds. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-vs-kodiak-bear-who-wins/50798/34 "2011-12-25T14:53:13Z")
Mouse beats elephant. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-vs-kodiak-bear-who-wins/50798/35 "2011-12-25T14:59:52Z")
Where’s Dwight Schrute when you need him? ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-vs-kodiak-bear-who-wins/50798/36 "2011-12-25T15:53:21Z")
Kodiak bears have far greater bone density from all of the digging and rooting they do plus genetics. A large Kodiak can kill all of these animals - even the elephant - with a single swipe of its paw. Even without factoring in the bear’s insane claws, those blows absolutely shatter bones. I will admit that the bear only has a puncher’s chance vs the elephant. In reality, the bear would be unlikely to charge something so big. Everything else is a cakewalk. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-vs-kodiak-bear-who-wins/50798/37 "2011-12-25T17:06:26Z")
I thought that this thread looked familiar. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-vs-kodiak-bear-who-wins/50798/38 "2011-12-25T17:09:05Z")
A zombie beats them all. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-vs-kodiak-bear-who-wins/50798/39 "2011-12-25T17:12:45Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Mouse beats elephant. Lizard beats Spock. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-vs-kodiak-bear-who-wins/50798/40 "2011-12-25T17:31:46Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Lizard beats Spock. No, _Kirk_ beats Lizard with a crude gun made out of space bamboo. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-vs-kodiak-bear-who-wins/50798.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-vs-kodiak-bear-who-wins/50798.md?page=3)