What Is The Strongest Land Animal?

You’re probaby thinking that the elephant is the strongest land animal and you’d be right and wrong, in the same breath.

The elephant is, by far, the biggest land animal and thus, can provide the most raw power. 

But once you take size into account and scale strength accordingly, the elephant is only about the eightth strongest animal on Earth!

In fact, we’ve got 5 animals for you that would easily be stronger than an elephant if only they were the same size as an elephant. 

The Top 5 Strongest Land Animals, In Reverse Order

5. Tigers

There may be no more terrifying sight in the world than a tiger running full pelt at its potential victim. 

They are super strong and your average tiger is capable of carrying something weighing up to 550Kg, umm…, up a tree! 

Given that a tiger weighs roughly 275Kg, that’s two times it’s own weight! 

4. Gorillas

The gorilla is one of mankind’s closest living relatives and it’s the greatest of the “great apes”. 

Sadly, it’s also in danger of extinction as mankind encroaches on its habitats to clear forests for farming, grazing and habitation. 

But one-on-one there’s no doubt who’d win in a fight, a 200Kg gorilla can easily life something that weighs up to 2 metric tons (that’s 2,000 Kg)!

3. Leafcutter Ants

If you’ve never seen a leafcutter ant in action, you should watch this YouTube video, as they’re quite an extraordinary creature.

They first use their jaws to cut away sections of a leaf (hence “leafcutter”) and then they use their jaws to carry that leaf part back to the nest.

Sure, that might not sound overly impressive but the leaf part can weigh up to 500 times what the ant weighs!

2. Rhinocerous Beetle

As the name suggests, the rhinocerous beetle is a big beetle with a single horn in the center of its forehead.

To get an idea of how strong these creatures are, if you could life the same proportionate weight as a rhinocerous beetle, you could carry a 65 ton object with ease!

Yes, they can lift over 850 times their own bodyweight! Yow!

1. Dung Beetle!

But, there can only be one strongest animal in the world and that title belongs to the humble dung beetle.

It can pull the equivalent of 1,141 times its own weight! 

If you were as strong as a dung beetle, you could tow six double-decker buses uphill and yes, they could fill those buses with people and you’d still have no problems!

Final Thoughts On The Strongest Land Animal

Yes! The strongest land animal is a beetle! If a dung beetle were the size of an elephant, we might all be in trouble as it would dominate the planet! 

Fortunately, dung beetles are pretty small and thus, aren’t really going to give you much bother in life.

If you’re interested in “the strongest” things then you might also appreciate our articles on the strongest man ever, the strongest UFC fighter and the strongest bone in the human body.