Top 10 Heaviest Animals in the World

Animals vary quite a lot in their physical traits. Not only by their height, but even more so by their weight. While heavy animals certainly do not belong to the fastest animals on Earth, they do possess other evolutionary advantages due to their size and weight. Heavy and large animals tend to be practically immune to cancer to name one.

The following ranking lists the 10 heaviest animals known around the world. The ranking is based on the maximum weight a respective species is known to have achieved. While the ranking is (unsurprisingly) dominated by a certain inhabitant of the sea, most of the Top 10 heaviest animals actually live on the land as you will see.

Note: For the Top 10 Ranking of Tallest Animals in the world, click here.



The 10 Heaviest Animals in the World


1. Whale

blue whale - heaviest animal in the world


2. Shark

animals, aquarium, aquatic


3. Elephant

elephants - heaviest land animals in the world


4. Hippopotamus

third of the heaviest animals in the world


5. Rhinoceros

rhino - fourth of the heaviest animals in the world



6. Elephant Seal


7. Walrus

pacific walrus - heaviest animals


8. Giraffe


9. Gaur

Indian Gaur from anaimalai hills JEG5290.jpg
Source: PJeganathan (CC BY-SA 4.0)


10. Bison

Large Bison




The 10 Heaviest Animals in the World
(at a glance)

Top 10 Heaviest Animals in the World:
1. WHALE
Up to ~ 190 tonnes
2. SHARK
Up to ~ 30 tonnes
3. ELEPHANT
Up to ~ 12.5 tonnes
4. HIPPOPOTAMUS
Up to ~ 4.5 tonnes
5. RHINOCEROS
Up to ~ 4.3 tonnes
6. ELEPHANT SEAL
Up to ~ 4.0 tonnes
7. WALRUS
Up to ~ 2.1 tonnes
8. GIRAFFE
Up to ~ 1.9 tonnes
9. GAUR
Up to ~ 1.5 tonnes
10. BISON
Up to ~ 1.3 tonnes


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