Robert Irwin has given his opinion on the viral internet debate regarding whether or not 100 men could beat one gorilla in a fight.
The son of late Australian zookeeper Steve Irwin, 21, turned to Instagram on Thursday to address the debate after being constantly asked about it.
“It’s ridiculous,” he said. “Like, I’m getting asked in the street now.”
The discourse started with an X post April 25, when one user named Michael Sherills said he thought 100 men could take on one gorilla. However, all the men in the battle had to “be dedicated” to win. He jokingly told his followers that if they’re not “ready to die” in the fight against the gorilla, “don’t sign up.”
“First of all, I dunno, gorillas are strong, mate. Like, really strong. But it’s 100 people. I’m not sure. Just as an animal conservationist, fighting an endangered species just doesn’t sit right with me.”
He then said that people should be focusing on how many people are needed to “save” the gorillas rather than fight them.
“Anyway, the one thing that people aren’t really saying in this whole discussion — yes, gorillas are super powerful, all of that, but also, they’re pretty chilled,” Irwin added. “Most of the time, they kind of just keep to themselves. They’ll defend themselves and protect each other and all of that, but if they don’t really have a reason, they kind of just do their thing.”
The video concluded with Irwin saying that fighting gorillas shouldn’t be a debate at all, and “maybe let’s just let this one remain a mystery.”
Irwin isn’t the only person to give his opinion on whether 100 men could win in a fight against one gorilla. In a TikTok video shared by NBA on TNT last month, famous sports announcers and former NBA stars were asked who would win the fight.
“100 men,” former power forward Charles Barkley said. However, “the Jet” Kenny Smith asked for a little more context: “Who are the 100 men? Let’s get that in order.”
“If the fight was mandatory to stay alive, I would go with 100 men,” Smith added.
Barkley also explained his answer: “The gorilla going to get tired, and [100 men] are going to be coming from all directions.”
However, Shaquille O’Neal disagreed with his co-hosts, saying “one gorilla will knock out 100 men.”
Meanwhile, YouTube star MrBeast shared a post on X with an edited photo of a group of men approaching a gorilla.
“Need 100 men to test this, any volunteers?” he joked, including a fake thumbnail for a YouTube video on his account titled “100 Men vs a Gorilla.”
Tesla founder Elon Musk responded to MrBeast, writing: “Sure, what’s the worst that could happen?”
