A black bear can run at up to 48 km/h, far faster than most people. But top speed alone does not determine who would win a race: acceleration, distance and stamina all affect the outcome, according to research comparing the running speeds of hundreds of animals.
Biologist Myriam Hirt and colleagues compiled speed records for around 350 land animals. Their research found that larger animals are not necessarily the fastest. Their greater body mass takes more energy and time to accelerate, meaning some may be vulnerable over short distances before reaching their top speed.
An African elephant, for example, can reach 35 km/h, but takes about 7.5 seconds to reach that pace. A quick estimate suggests it could cover 100 metres in roughly 14 seconds, a time that well-trained adults could beat. Usain Bolt’s peak speed during his world-record run was about 44 km/h, faster than a white rhino’s reported maximum of 40 km/h, but below the 48–50 km/h recorded for brown and polar bears.
Many animals can outrun even elite sprinters. Cheetahs have reached 93 km/h in the wild, while ostriches can run at up to 82.8 km/h. Giraffes can reach around 57–60 km/h, and reported top speeds for reindeer, zebras and moose are also higher than Bolt’s peak.
Those figures describe short bursts, not sustained running. Cheetahs typically maintain their maximum speed for only about two seconds, and their usual hunting runs cover less than 200 metres. By contrast, pronghorns, which are prey animals, have been recorded running 11 kilometres in ten minutes, averaging 65 km/h.
Humans are generally better suited to endurance than sprinting. Our biomechanics, limited body hair and ability to sweat are among the traits thought to support long-distance running. But evidence comparing humans with other animals over marathon distances is limited: animals do not train or compete in the same way, and forcing them to run in laboratory conditions could be unethical.
Available estimates of animals’ usual sustained pace are not the same as their maximum long-distance speed. A black bear’s cruising pace is listed at 2.6 km/h, compared with 3.5 km/h for a tiger, 6.3 km/h for a dromedary and 7.9 km/h for a grey wolf. These figures fall below the roughly 9 km/h average pace of London Marathon runners, but they do not establish how fast the animals could run over a full marathon.
Siberian huskies, however, can cover long distances at high speed. Based on their times in sled races over marathon-length routes, they could beat the human world record by more than half an hour; without the load they pull, they might be faster still. Endurance horses could also outrun most people, although results depend on terrain. In an annual 35-kilometre race over mountainous ground in Wales, horses usually win, but humans sometimes finish first.
For ultradistances, sled dogs have a clear advantage in the examples cited. Some dogs complete the 1,600-kilometre Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, whose course record is seven days and 14 hours. The fastest recorded time for a comparable foot race on the Iditarod trail is 19 days, nine hours and 38 minutes.
Even small animals could be difficult opponents in a short sprint. Squirrels and badgers can reach around 30 km/h, and their size allows them to accelerate to top speed in just a few strides. That is faster than many people can run.
A runner’s personal best over five kilometres can offer a rough comparison with animal sprint speeds: a 40-minute time matches the reported top speed of a wood mouse, while 30 minutes corresponds to a common rat or hamster. Completing the distance in 25 minutes is comparable to a house mouse or marine iguana, and 20 minutes to a weasel or marmot. These are animals’ maximum sprint speeds, which they cannot sustain for the entire five kilometres.
Sources: Folha Ciência.