I recently re-read Animorphs, and the series regularly mentions Marco in his gorilla morph being strong enough to bend metal. Are gorillas really that strong, or is that just an outdated myth from the 90s (or something like that)? K.A. Applegate seems to know a lot about animals, but there are definitely plenty other animal "facts" throughout the series that aren't true (like how when the characters go back in time, the T Rexes constantly leap around and pounce like they don't weigh 15 thousand pounds)
I mean technically humans can bend metal with their bare hands, if the metal is soft and maleable enough. When it comes to gorillas and metals such as steel, it's an interesting inquiry because we actually don't entirely know how strong gorillas are!
Though gorillas are obviously incredibly strong, they are also very large and eat mostly vegetation. As such, conserving energy is important and even very passionate displays won't showcase the gorillas full strength.
That being said, gorillas can lift several times their own body weight and have been observed bending steel bars! Gorilla muscle fibers are several times denser than human ones and they have extremely thick, sturdy bones. Their grip and force is truly unmatched in the primate world. Not only that, but they have twice as much bite strength as a lion! While their incredible strength might be hard to believe, it serves them well for tearing into trees and traveling through the jungle.
