Before polar bears became our most iconic symbol of climate change, they were more often a symbol of terrifying animal strength. Anyone old enough to have played pioneering fight game Tekken 2 in the mid nineties will likely remember the polar bear, Kuma. Other characters had laser beams which blasted out of their eyes or fists which turned into balls of fire, but Kuma’s special move was actually the most satisfying – lumbering to his feet he would smash both of his enormous claws together, dropping even the strongest enemy to the floor quivering and bleeding, and very often dead.
Today we’re going to celebrate the power of the polar bear again, though for our fight game we’ll be pitching the largest mammalian carnivore on the planet against four other beast foes. But first, let’s take a quick look at the polar bear’s fighting stats.
| Height: | 8 feet when standing |
| Weight: | 1,400 pounds |
| Speed: | 25 miles per hour |
| Bite Force: | 1235 PSI |
| Predators: | None |
| Diet: | seals, walruses, whales |
| Lifespan: | 20 – 30 years |
You know you are dealing with a formidable opponent when its prey includes whales, although the fact that polar bears regularly take on walruses – which are much larger than them, and boast terrifying tusks – is perhaps the real proof that the polar bear is king of the ice. But, for the first fight, let’s pitch the king of the ice against the king of the jungle. Let’s consider polar bear versus lion.
POLAR BEAR VERSUS LION
| Weight: | 420 pounds |
| Speed: | 50 miles per hour |
| Bite Force: | 650 PSI |
| Predators: | None |
| Diet: | antelopes, buffaloes, zebras, young elephants, rhinos, hippos, wild hogs, crocodiles and giraffes. |
| Lifespan: | 20 – 30 years |
Take a quick look at the above statistics and you might think the lion wouldn’t stand a chance, given the bear’s sheer bulk and terrifying bite. However, a lion is a very courageous hunter who will take on other animals with mighty jaws, such as crocodiles. Polar bears are more likely to sneak attack prey with considerably fewer defenses. The lion would therefore have an advantage in sheer aggression which, coupled with its superior speed, would allow it to draw first blood. Unfortunately for the big cat, the polar bear’s deep shield of blubber means that a first wound is rarely enough to kill it outright, giving it the chance to throw all of its strength into the battle.
Rather remarkably, this battle really has happened in the real world, though only in the environment of a circus. A lion called Brutus is said to have killed a polar bear in a rapid and savage assault. However, the polar bear was a small juvenile. In the wild, among two fully grown adults, it’s hard to see the lion being victorious in most circumstances. The bear’s sheer size, strength and stamina would surely end in the lion being crushed and mauled to death, though not without inflicting some serious damage in the process.
WINNER: POLAR BEAR
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