Check out this amazing video of a gibbon fearlessly teasing two tigers. Admittedly they’re quite young tigers – but still, they’re not itty bitty cubs or anything; they definitely surpass their tormentor in fangs, claws, and sheer mass. But in speed and agility – not so much.
More than anything, I was reminded of ERB’s stories of Tarzan’s boyhood (in books 1 and 6), where the young apeboy was always portrayed as doing this kind of thing.