Key Points:
- Tusks can withstand forces up to 14,000 PSI, equivalent to 14,000 pounds per square inch.
- The strength of an elephant’s bite, estimated at 2,200 PSI, is greater than that of predators like lions and jaguars.
- The likelihood of an elephant bite is often overlooked by the majority of individuals.
Although elephants are behemoth creatures, often weighing up to 13,000 pounds, they’re still adorable. One of these enormous elephants was caught on its hind legs in the wild. The elephant in the video included below is reaching its trunk up toward a tree branch.
With a quick pull, the enormous elephant is able to seamlessly tear down the branch with ease. Elephants are generally seen as gentle giants, yet they aren’t always the amenable animals that people think of them as being.

©DorSteffen/Shutterstock.com
Elephants are among the most fascinating animals since they are intelligent enough to have sophisticated emotions and intricate social structures. These tusked animals possess incredible raw power that few other creatures can even come close to matching.
They aren’t the strongest animals on the planet, but they are the strongest land animals that have ever walked the earth, pound for pound.
Understanding Elephant Strength
Ivory elephant tusks are stronger than most people assume. Elephants have a range of uses for their tusks. They employ them for safety, tree felling, bark removal, and other purposes. The curved teeth endure considerable pressure. Fortunately, they are designed to manage it.
Tusks can withstand applied forces of up to 14,000 PSI. That’s a bending force of 14,000 pounds per square inch! The majority of individuals never even consider the likelihood of an elephant bite!
The strength of an elephant’s bite is not well understood. An elephant’s bite typically produces 2,200 PSI. Additionally, it has greater strength than dangerous predators like lions and jaguars!

©Ocean Eloy/Shutterstock.com
Elephants are not dependent just on the power of their bites to defend themselves. That’s what their trunk and tusks are for! The trunk serves many purposes for the animal. Elephants utilize it as both a tool for eating and a prosthetic arm. The trunk alone has more than 150,000 muscles. It goes without saying that it’s quite tense!
The trunk of an elephant can be used as a tool for hitting. When they do, they have a maximum strength of 6,000 pound-feet.
Do You Even Lift?

©JohnEGoodwin/Shutterstock.com
Age and general health can have a positive or negative impact on an elephant’s ability to lift. The colossal power of certain stronger male elephants, who can frequently carry more than 2,000 pounds on their back, is quite remarkable.
Enormous elephants can typically support 10% of their weight on just their rear legs. That’s how we can witness such a large animal standing on its hind legs to tear down the branch. The majority of elephants can lift about half of their weight when they are laying down.
Check Out the Video Below!
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