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orangutan vs polar bear

orangutan vs polar bear
Evenly matched on the numbers
Measured comparison — not a prediction

The largest tree-dwelling animal; adult males develop broad cheek flanges and rarely leave the canopy. The largest living land carnivore, classified as a marine mammal because it hunts from sea ice. The measurements below split evenly, which is rarer than it sounds.

The measurements

orangutan polar bear
Mass 30–118 kg 150–700 kg
Length — 1.8–3 m
Height 1.15–1.5 m 1–1.6 m
Top speed — 40 km/h
Bite force — 1,200 psi
Lifespan 35–58 yr 20–32 yr

Where each one leads

  • Mass: polar bear is 6.9× heavier.
  • Height: near enough identical.
  • Lifespan: orangutan is 1.6× a longer life.

What this does and does not tell you

These are measured averages with real ranges behind them, and every figure links to its own page. What they cannot do is settle an encounter. Outcomes between animals turn on circumstance — who initiates, whether either is hungry, defending young, injured or cornered, and what the terrain favours. Size and bite force are not decisive on their own, and most of these pairs never meet in the wild in any case, because their ranges do not overlap.

Every figure here is an average with a substantial spread. Individual animals vary enormously — a large individual of the smaller species routinely exceeds a small individual of the larger one.

Common questions

Is a orangutan bigger than a polar bear?
polar bear is heavier — 150–700 kg against 30–118 kg.
Who would win, a orangutan or a polar bear?
That is not something measurements can settle. The comparison above shows which animal leads on each measure, but an actual encounter depends on circumstance, motivation, health and terrain — and most pairs like this never meet in the wild.

Related pages

Sources

  1. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History — Smithsonian Institution

How these figures are compiled and checked