ANIMAL CURIOSITIES

Ten of the heaviest animals on Earth

Tons upon tons: the heaviest animals reach crazy numbers. Here are the maximum weights in the animal kingdom.

In general, the absolute heaviest animal is the blue whale, whose average weight is around 110-150 tonnes (the heaviest ever recorded even reached 199 tonnes!).

In the ranking, however, we have only considered terrestrial animals or animals that have both terrestrial and aquatic habits. Browse the photo gallery to find out more.

Getty Images, Freepik
10 of the heaviest animals on Earth
Tons upon tons: the heaviest animals reach crazy numbers. Here are the maximum weights in the animal kingdom. In general, the absolute heaviest animal is the blue whale, whose average weight is around 110-150 tonnes (the heaviest ever recorded even reached 199 tonnes!). In the ranking, however, we have only considered terrestrial animals or animals that have both terrestrial and aquatic habits. Browse the photo gallery to find out more.
Molly Ebersold of the St. Augustine Alligator Farm, Wikimedia Commons
Saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus)
The saltwater crocodile is the largest living reptile. It is one of three crocodile species found in the Indian subcontinent, but this reptile also lives in Australia, Indochina and Melanesia. Its average weight is around 600 kilograms and its length is 4-6 meters. Its bite is one of the most powerful in nature.
Freepik
Gaur (Bos gaurus)
This bovine is native to India and Burma. The weight of the Gaur ranges from 650 kilograms to about one and a half tons for adult males, but the average is 850 kilograms. Together with the buffalo, it is the largest wild bovine in the world.
Freepik
Wild water buffalo (Bubalus arnee)
The wild water buffalo weighs an average of 900 kilograms (the heaviest can exceed one ton). The species has been considered endangered since 1986, as the remaining population stands at less than 4,000. Unfortunately, the population is expected to decline by at least 50 percent in recent generations.
Getty Images
Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis)
The black rhinoceros is characterized by the presence of two horns on the top of the skull. Despite its size, this animal becomes aggressive only when threatened. Its average weight is about one ton, but it can reach up to one and a half tons.
Arpingstone, Wikimedia Commons
Northern Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)
That it is very tall we already know, but the giraffe's weight is not indifferent either: in fact, this mammal weighs an average of 1.25 tonnes. The giraffe is threatened with extinction: suffice it to say that very few individuals remain of the heaviest species (Giraffa camelopardalis).
Freepik
Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus)
This funny animal can weigh up to 1.7 tons (as much as 23 people combined). It lives mainly in the shallow waters of the ocean continental shelf, and again we are talking about a vulnerable animal in terms of extinction risk. Among the causes of the reduction in the numbers of this species are global warming and commercial exploitation.
Freepik
Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius)
Despite being herbivorous, the hippo is one of the strongest animals on the planet. On average, a hippo weighs about 2 tons, but males can weigh as much as 3-4 tons.
Freepik
White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum)
The white rhinoceros is the largest existing species of rhinoceros. This species averages two and a half tonnes, but males can reach 3-4 tonnes in exceptional cases.
Yathin S Krishnappa, Wikimedia
Indian elephant (Elephas maximus)
Male Indian elephants are on average 5.5-6.5 metres long, have a shoulder height of 2.7-3 metres, and weigh 4 to 4.7 tonnes. Females, on the other hand, are slightly smaller.
Getty Images
African elephant (Loxodonta africana)
One of the largest land animals is the African elephant, which differs from its Indian cousin in that the males are much larger (the females of the two species are approximately the same size). Male African elephants weigh on average 6 tonnes, but specimens of up to 10 tonnes have been found! Unfortunately, this beautiful animal is at risk of extinction due to the destruction of its habitat and because of poaching for meat and ivory from its tusks.
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