Lionesses are formidable hunters capable of preying on various herbivores like warthogs, antelopes, zebras, and giraffes! They will even kill competing carnivores like cheetahs and leopards. Could they kill a carnivore larger than themselves if they worked as a team? In this article, we will imagine a battle scene of a pride of lionesses vs a grizzly bear.
Lioness vs Grizzly Bear Fact Sheet
| Lioness | Grizzly Bear | |
| Size | weight 120 – 180 kg body length 2.4 – 2.7 m tail length 0.6 – 1 m shoulder height 0.9 – 1.1 m | weight 200 – 300 kg length 2 – 2.4 m shoulder height 0.9 -1.5 m standing on hind legs can reach 2.7 m |
| Speed | 50 mph | 35 mph |
| Strengths | great eyesight at night bite force 650 psi canines 10 cm claws 4 cm | strong sense of smell bite force 1160 psi teeth 2.5 cm claws 10 – 15 cm |
| Weaknesses | smaller than the grizzly bear less biting power | outnumbered by the pride |
| Habitat | South Africa savanna | North America woodlands forests meadows |
| Diet | carnivore | omnivore |
| Lifespan | 15 – 18 years | 20 – 25 years |
| Predators | hyenas | no natural predators |
Lioness vs Grizzly Bear: Size Comparison
Lionesses are smaller than male lions, weighing 120 – 180 kg (265 – 395 lb). They have a shoulder height of 0.9 – 1.1 m (2.9 – 3.6 ft). Their body length, excluding the tail, is 2.4 – 2.7 m (7.9 – 8.8 ft). The tail measures 60 – 100 cm (23.6 – 39 in).
Male grizzly bears can weigh 200 – 300 kg (440 – 660 lb) and be 2 – 2.4 m (6.5 – 7.9 ft) long. They have a shoulder height of 0.9 – 1.5 m (3 – 5 ft). Grizzly bears often stand on their hind legs when in search of food or when in battle with another bear. When they do this, they can reach 2.7 m (8.8 ft).
The grizzly bear has a clear size advantage over the lionesses, being twice the weight of one lioness.
Lioness vs Grizzly Bear: Movement Speed
Lionesses must be fast to catch their prey, capable of running at 50 mph (80 kph) for short distances. A grizzly bear can reach a top speed of 35 mph (56 kph), but they rarely travel this fast as they don’t do anywhere near as much hunting as lions. Lionesses are more agile than male lions due to weighing less, so they naturally have a more significant movement speed than the grizzly bear.
Pride of Lionesses vs Grizzly Bear: Strengths and Weaknesses
On average, a lion pride has six lionesses responsible for most of the hunting. They have excellent night vision, so they do most of their hunting at night, as this gives them an edge over their prey. They stalk silently and use long grass for cover, with their claws retracted inside their sheaths to keep them sharp and minimise noise.
Once the lionesses are close enough, they charge at their prey, with the strongest lionesses pouncing on the animal, trying to knock it off balance. Once the animal has fallen to the ground, they pile on top to stop it from escaping while one lioness delivers a fatal bite to the neck. When taking on big prey like a buffalo, its jaws are too short to fit around its neck. Instead, they cover its nose with their mouth to suffocate it. This is a slow death that can take up to an hour.
A lioness’s bite is no weaker than a male’s, with a bite force of 650 psi. It is their canine teeth that cause the most damage. They measure 10 cm (4 in) long. They use their powerful 4 cm (1.5 in) claws to grip their prey.
Grizzly bears are powerful animals with a bite force nearly twice that of the lionesses of 1160 psi. Their teeth are short, only 2.5 cm (1 in) long, but their jaws are still bone-crushing. Their claws are massive, 10 – 15 cm (4 – 6 in) long, mainly used for digging but can also be used for hitting another animal in battle. One hit can deliver more than 600 pounds of force, enough to kill an animal like a wolf in one blow.
Grizzly bears have a terrific sense of smell. For example, the average dog has a sense of smell 100 times better than a human. In contrast, bears have a sense of smell 2,100 times better than humans. With this strong sense of smell, the lionesses will have to sneak carefully up to the grizzly bear. If it catches just one sniff of them, it will be on high alert, and they will have lost their advantage of a surprise attack.
The lionesses have the advantage of numbers on their side during the fight, able to circle the grizzly bear while one distracts it another one can attack from behind. Their biggest weakness is the apparent weight difference between the two animals. It will take all of them to pin the grizzly bear down. The bear has the weight and strength advantage over the lionesses. Its only weakness is that it will be outnumbered.
Pride of lionesses vs grizzly bear who would win in a fight?
In this fight between a pride of lionesses vs a grizzly bear, the pride will consist of six lionesses.
If the lionesses were to win, they would need excellent teamwork. First, they need to sneak up on the grizzly bear and launch a successful surprise attack, except this would be nearly impossible because the grizzly bears strong sense of smell. Instead, they would have to take turns harassing the grizzly bear to tire it out so it collapses of exhaustion which would take some time. It would take all six lionesses to weigh the grizzly bear, just like when they attack a buffalo.
Just like the buffalo biting the neck of the grizzly bear would be useless as it is too thick for their jaws to clamp down on. One lioness would not be strong enough to cover the bear’s nose with its mouth long enough to suffocate it.
The lioness’s best bet for victory would be to keep the grizzly bear pinned down and start biting into it while it is still alive. It would help their chances of success if they attacked a weak or old grizzly bear.
In this fight, the grizzly bear would be no pushover with its power and strength. It can critically wound a lioness with one bite or swipe from its paw. In the wild, they often come into contact with wolf packs, which they regularly steal the wolves’ kills. The lionesses are larger than wolves, but an experienced grizzly would be used to fighting multiple threats at once.
This is a tough fight to call, as it could go either way. The likely outcome in a conflict between these two amazing animals is the lionesses giving up in the battle. They would realise that they shouldn’t be messing with a grizzly bear.
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