People overrate size. The seal has much fewer weapons, and - even more important - much less flexibility.
I would think the seal’s best chance is the bear gets tired and gives up (it would take a lot of effort for the bear to get through the skin) or it escapes to the water. Otherwise the seal has no chance.
There’s been a lot of discussion of this. The view that makes most sense to me is that an adult male lion probably has the edge over an adult male tiger. The tiger has a small size advantage, but the lion has the advantages of 1) neck protection via the mane, and 2) experience (and/or instincts geared for) fighting with other big lions, which the solitary tigers don’t have.
Elephant seals are predators. Walruses just dig up clams. That said, I very much doubt that an elephant seal could overcome a land-based predator on land.
Tigers have a large size advantage. The heaviest tiger on record weighed 858 pounds, though the normal maximum is ~600 pounds. The largest lion on record weighed 675 pounds. Anyway, lions fight for dominance. Adult males don’t kill each other. Bengal tigers have also been observed fighting and killing Asian black bears, which while smaller than North American bears are similar in size to lions.
Folk wisdom from NA bear country has it that when confronted with a non-grizzly black or brown bear it can be a good desperation tactic to stand tall and appear confident and aggressive- such bears will sometimes back off.
For grizzlies this is said to never work, your best case is to play dead and let it maul you, hoping it’s not particularly hungry and will get bored and wander off.
The alleged reason for this is that non-grizzlies occasionally have to back down from a fight (if they meet a grizzly) and have this within their normal behavioral repertoire, so are sometimes bluffable when faced with an unfamiliar opponent; but grizzlies know they’re on top of the chain and thus have no instinct to back down from such conflict. (The above also doesn’t apply to bears that have already had substantial contact with people)
I seem to remember hearing a third part to the above: if you’re confronted with a polar bear, run toward it and embrace it – because you’re dead anyway, and the best thing is to make it as quick as possible.
If the question was what animal could cause a Grizzly Bear to turn tail and flee in abject terror showing themselves to be complete and total yellow-bellied cowards …
Saw a very sad nature show recently. A starving polar bear attacked a colony of elephant seals. It was approximately as effective as a kitten attacking a rottweiler. The polar bear couldn’t even pierce the exceptionally tough, thick skin of the seals, while the elephant seals counter-attacked with their tusks. Eventually the bear retreated and died from its injuries.
Bear and wolverine - the wolverine could do it. There is at least one documented case of a wolverine killing a polar bear. The wolverine latched onto the polar bears throat and suffocated it.
As for the wolverine turning on its heel and running from a grizzly, I doubt it. I’m pretty sure I’ve read accounts of wolverines defending a kill from a grizzly but I’m having trouble locating it at the moment. Anyway, the wolverine might not survive but it wouldn’t turn and run. They are very nasty, confrontational little buggers. If it was able to get at the grizzly bears tender bits I have a feeling the bear would lose interest pretty quickly.
It’s a fanciful myth that a wolverine of any size or gender could kill a healthy Griz that was the least bit serious about taking on a little (full-grown) wolverine.
Wolverines are tough but physics can’t be denied. One bite from a grizzly bear would be all she wrote!
I’d imagine that a wolverine would not be able to consume a whole grizzly kill, and if it as an elk, then it would only be able to manage a small part of it.
So if you’re a bear, the wolverine isn’t going to make much impact on the size of your lunch - why bother fighting and risking injury over something so insignificant when you can get all you can eat by waiting a while.
I would like to add that many years ago I saw a video that some dude took while out hiking in the mountains of California. He came upon a situation of a wolverine and a cougar attempting to share a dead deer. The cougar, apparently, didn’t care much for the wolverine’s table manners and decided to pounce on it, but the wolverine quickly managed to get on his (own) back to the ground and fought the big cat from that position. The big weasel somehow managed to get the panther by the throat and at that point one could see some fear in the cat’s eyes as it allowed its claws to retrack from the wolverine which in turn caused the wolverine to let go of the cougar’s throat and resume eating the deer. The cougar, having learned a lesson, sat patiently a few yards away and waited its turn to feed. THAT was most impressive because cougars ARE strong and tough in their own right! (Though a bear, even a black bear, is another matter altogether, and would make short work out of both animals…)
There was an interesting news report this morning with an accompanying video of a wolf and a cougar fighting. It took place on Vancouver Island, early in the morning. Consequently the video wasa bit difficult to view.
What transpired was fascinating. The two tangled for a bit, with the wolf managing to get on top of the cougar. That was when the wolf made it’s mistake. It backed off a bit and the cougar attacked, appearing to grab the wolf by the throat, suffocating it.
I’m on a tablet and don’t know how to post direct links, but the story is on GlobalBC.
