This is the fourth match of the first round of the Winners’ Bracket: King Cobra vs. Gorilla. Information is taken from Wikipedia.

The king cobra and the gorilla will face off in a small, flat, grassy arena with two sturdy trees near one corner.

King Cobra

The King Cobra is poised to strike.

The King Cobra is the world’s longest venomous snake, reaching lengths of up to 6.7 m (22 ft); its average length is 3.6 to 4 m (12 to 13 feet) and its average weight is 6 kg (13.2 lb). The King Cobra’s latin name “literally means “snake-eater”, and its diet primarily consists of other snakes, including sizeable pythons and even smaller members of its own species” (Wikipedia).

King Cobras use their quick strike and deadly venom to incapacitate or kill their prey. Their venom can kill a human with a single bite (depending on the amount of venom they release; most bites involve non-fatal amounts).

Gorilla

A silverback gorilla sits and gathers its thoughts.

Gorillas range in size from 165 to 175 cm (5 ft 5 in – 5 ft 9 in) tall and from 140 to 204.5 kg (310 to 450 lb) heavy. Silverback (adult male) gorillas have large, protruding canine teeth and long, powerful arms.

Gorillas are considered highly intelligent animals.

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This is the first match of the first round of the Winners’ Bracket: Tiger vs. Giraffe. Information is taken from Wikipedia.

The tiger and the giraffe will face off in a large, open area, with a few trees and some patches of tall grass.

Tiger

The first seed in the War of the Wilds.

For the sake of clarity, tigers will be represented by a male Siberian Tiger.

The male Siberian Tiger has an average length of 190-230 centimetres (75-90 inches) and weighs between 165 and 185 kilograms (360 to 400 pounds). Siberian Tigers prey primarily on wild boars and various types of deer.

Giraffe

The sixteenth seed in the War of the Wilds.

The average male giraffe stands between 14 and 17 feet tall and weighs 1,200 kilograms (2,650 pounds). Giraffes are herbivores, primarily eating leaves and grass, but have strong hooves with which they can defend themselves.

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What is the mightiest animal on earth? I’ve always found this a fascinating question. I can’t stand MMA or boxing, but I get some kind of primal thrill out of watching YouTube videos of dueling grizzly bears or seeing a mongoose challenge a king cobra — and win.

But if a tiger fought a silverback gorilla, which would win? If a rhinoceros got into a shoving match with a hippopotamus, which one would give way? Setting up actual fights would, unfortunately, be unethical. I’ve got plenty of opinions about the subject, but there is very little evidence to back up my (or anyone else’s) speculations.

Since I am only one man, with personal biases and preferences, my judgments would doubtless be debated. So what’s the next best thing? Democracy, my friends. It’s imperfect, but I think it will suffice.

Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to run a series of polls with matchups between some of the biggest, strongest, most dangerous animals on the planet. I’ll run things in a tournament bracket, based on a random seeding of the animals that are chosen.

The first thing to do is choose the animals that will be included. I’ve assembled a list of potential starters, but I need your input. Leave a comment with your suggestions of animals to include, or if you think one of the animals in my list shouldn’t be included, tell me why. Ideally I’d like to end up with a multiple of eight, so a starting list of 16 or 32 would be ideal.

I’ll leave the suggestions open until Tuesday, April 14, and then I’ll assemble the bracket and we’ll get things started.

 Initial (Tentative) Challenger List

• Rhinoceros
• Hippopotamus
• Silverback Gorilla
• Lion
• Tiger
• Grizzly Bear
• Polar Bear
• Cougar
• Elephant
• Boa Constrictor
• King Cobra
• Saltwater Crocodile
• Komodo Dragon
• Giant Anteater
• Human (unarmed)
• Giraffe
• Ostrich
• Chimpanzee