We’ll investigate this battle and show you whether the human or the wolf manages to rise to the occasion. For these purposes, we’ll use the measurements of the gray wolf and data from the CDC for human background information.
Comparing an Unarmed Human and a Wolf
What Are the Key Factors in a Fight Between an Unarmed Human and a Wolf?
Determining whether a human or a wolf wins a fight comes down to size, speed, and the way that each animal can deal damage to the other. However, we also need to look at the ways that each creature attacks other animals and defends itself. We’ll show you how each animal measures up in five different ways and use that data to name a winner.
Unarmed Human vs Wolf: Size
The average human is taller and heavier than a wolf. The average human male weighs up to 200 pounds and stands about 5 feet 9 inches tall. Of course, humans can be much lighter, or they can be much heavier than this measure. They can also grow taller too. Meanwhile, wolves weigh between 80 and 150 pounds, grow between 3.5 and 5 feet long, and stand between 2 and 3 feet at the shoulder. Humans have a big size advantage.
Unarmed Human vs Wolf: Speed
Wolves are much faster than humans. They can run at speeds of up to 40 mph when catching prey. Meanwhile, the fastest human of all time hit 27.5 mph or so while in the middle of a sprint. The average person can barely break the 10-mph mark when running. All told, the wolf has a serious speed advantage in this bout.
Unarmed Human vs Wolf: Defenses
The average wolf relies on its pack size, speed, and agility to stay safe from harm. Meanwhile, humans rely on their intelligence to stay out of harm’s way. Without tools and weapons, though, humans are somewhat helpless to protect against true predatory animals like wolves. We have too many weak spots and few means of counterattacking available. Wolves have better defenses than humans.
Unarmed Human vs Wolf: Offensive Capabilities
Humans rely on their intelligence and tools to overcome most animals. Without those, they can punch, kick, bite, and try to choke other animals. However, humans are relatively weak compared to other primates and many other wild animals. Human bites are weak, and our teeth are too small to do damage, especially in this case. Meanwhile, we don’t know the full biting power of wolves. Some tests have found that they bite with a force of 400 PSI, but some estimates range up to 1,000 PSI outside of lab conditions. It’s hard to get wolves to bite with all their force in a lab, so we don’t really know how hard they can bite. Either way, they can tear the flesh off of animals much larger than humans, so that information will suffice for this fight.
Unarmed Human vs Wolf: Predatory Behavior
Without weapons, humans have to rely on ambushing most animals to win a fight or tiring them out by chasing them for a long time. The only thing we have going for us is our wits and endurance. Wolves are cursorial predators. They are experts at chasing down prey and injuring it until it’s too tired to fight back. When their target is too exhausted to put up a fight, they bite at the neck or snout of their prey and finish it off. That’s when they’ll start tearing the animal apart. Wolves have much better predatory behaviors than humans and another advantage in this fight.
Who Would Win in a Fight Between an Unarmed Human and a Wolf?
An unarmed human could not beat a wolf in a fight. Wolves are too strong, fast, and ferocious for a person to overcome in the vast majority of cases. They are not merely big dogs. Wolves are apex predators that would make any lone person recoil in fear should they encounter one in the wild. The only chance that a human would have in this fight would be to somehow use their strength and body weight to take down and potentially choke the wolf to death. That’s not going to happen, though. An unarmed human will not stand a chance against a wolf. Before you imagine yourself putting a wolf in a chokehold, you have to realize that even most domesticated dogs can fight their way out of having their nails clipped. So, you don’t stand a chance at besting a wolf because they are vicious and incredibly strong. What would most likely happen is the wolf would stalk the human, waiting for them to make a move. If the human runs, the wolf will follow, waiting on the individual to get tired. That’s when the attack will come, and the person will be too exhausted and scared to fight back. If the person stands and fights, the wolf will probably test them by lunging and dodging, delivering a bite here and there. Eventually, the wolf is going to see that there isn’t much in the way of danger in this battle and attack. The human will go down in so much pain that they won’t be able to fight back in any meaningful way.
Up Next:
Could an Unarmed Human Beat a Lion?Could an Unarmed Human Beat a Rabid Goose?Could an Unarmed Human Beat a Chimpanzee?Could an Unarmed Human Beat a Grizzly Bear?Could an Unarmed Human Beat a Pack of Rats?
