African elephants raid corn fields (maize) in East Africa. A study to determine what does an elephant eat in Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania said the elephants’ diet consisted of at least 36 plant species ranging in size from small herbs to large trees. Certain animals love it, but it spells danger for others. Apparently, elephants know that too. A big elephant can eat up to 600 pounds of food a day! The elephant’s digestive system and teeth are adapted to a diet high in fibre content. Elephant grass, also known as Napier grass or Ugandan grass, is type of tropical plant that belongs to the grass family. Subjects spent nearly 17 h day ‐1 feeding while selecting a wide range of food plants. Elephants also love to eat human crops. The staple diet of elephants consists of grasses, leaves, bamboo, bark and roots; basically any digestible vegetable matter. There are only about 40,000 to 50,000 left in the wild. Browsers like dik-diks and giraffes nibble on leaves and shrubs—collectively called “browse”. However, the elephants in the south showed much more seasonal variation, switching from mainly browsing (10 percent grass) in the dry season to half browsing and half grazing in summer. African elephants have a sub-Saharan distribution, with forest elephants primarily inhabiting western and central regions of Africa and savanna elephants inhabiting the eastern and southern regions. Other large herbivores tend to specialize as either grazers (grass eaters) or browsers (parts of woody plants), but elephants do both. The elephant feeds on leaves, bark, stem, twigs, pith, root, fruits and flowers. Elephants eat grass, roots, fruit, vegtables, bamboo, bark, banana palm and coco palm . We had heard tales earlier that day of elephants who had been fed oranges by tourists and had learned to raid camps in search of the juicy fruit. They spend about 80% of their day (16-18 hours per day) eating. Elephants will eat hundreds of species of plants (from one hundred to five hundred depending who you ask). *This article may contain affiliate links. Responsible Tourism in Thailand, the Asian Elephant’s Tale, Elephant Communication: Mine is Bigger Than Yours, What do elephants eat? These cookies do not store any personal information. African elephants will consume the same basic foods as Asian elephants with acceptance to bamboo since this plant source isn’t very common in Africa. In southern India one study found that Asian elephants primarily raided millet fields. On the rare occasion when a piece of the horsenettle was selected with the trunkful of grass, they would either leave the trunkful of grass to the side and begin the selection over again, or they would use the ‘finger’ at the tip of their trunk to remove the horsenettle and consume the grass. Forest Elephants occupy a relatively small range in the Congo Rainforest of Africa. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Loxodonta. What do elephants eat? Here are their wild accounts. Q: How do you know if there are three elephants in the pub? Elephant grass grows in the pastures, open woodlands, wastelands, along the lakes and rivers and near the roads. Wondering what do elephants eat? Animals That Start With X: A List of All the Animals Beginning with X, Animals That Start With U: Over 130 Animals, Photos, how to take your first self drive African wildlife safari, Best National Parks in the United States for Wildlife Watching, Animals Starting With K: the Humongous List, Animals Beginning With N: Photos and Illustrations, A Personal Wishlist of Campsites in Zambia, Guide to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South African Owls, a Guide to the Owl Species Found in South Africa. Generally speaking, elephants eat more grass during the early wet season, then rely more on browse for the rest of the year. They wash this down with over 100 gallons of water! Foraging by adult African elephants was studied in the Terminalia/Combretum woodlands of Manovo‐Gounda‐St Floris National Park, Central African Republic. If you love elephants and want to learn more, check out some of our other great articles! The elephants eat the fruits whole and eventually poop out the nut in the center, distributing the seeds across the savannah and spreading the trees. The trunk of an elephant is a muscular, flexible extension this mammal's upper lip and nose. One study in southern Sri Lanka showed that of the 25 species of crops damaged by elephants, peanuts were only damaged from trampling and not from consumption (along with chili, onions, and sesame.). Elephants eat mostly grass, they also eat barks, roots, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds. But if the weather turns dry and grass dies back, they will eat almost any kind of vegetation they can find. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. The tendency of wild elephants to feed on the bark of certain trees suggested that this might be a source for some minerals. The elephant being a continuous feeder with its large digestive tract, takes feeds low in energy but high in bulk. The proportions of grass or browse they consume depends on the season and habitat. To sneak across a pool table without being seen. Their digestive tract is not structured to digest meat. He weighed 24,000 lbs (10,886 kg) and was 13 feet tall at the shoulders. Studies on Asian elephants in the wild in southern India showed the browse intake during the wet season had a crude protein content of 13-20%. Elephants can use their trunks to reach high leaves, but if that doesn’t work they can knock the tree down! These remarkable portion sizes lead them to spend about 80% of their waking hours eating, and have given them the name ‘megaherbivores’. What do elephants eat? Killings are often retaliatory as elephants eat and trample crops, raid food stores, and damage village infrastructure including precious water sources. You can read a more wordy bio on our about page. A study to determine what do elephants eat in Kruger National Park showed that african elephant diet can vary greatly depending on season and location, even within a single park. Elephants are afraid of bees! On an average elephants require a minimum of 150-200 litres of water each day. One study in Tsavo National Park, Kenya showed that on average their diet consisted of 10-15% grass but could go as high as 60% grass for short periods. Elephants caked in white mud. Their main food is grass when it's available, along with some leaves. They have a varied diet which includes about 30-60% grass, and also leaves, bark, flowers twigs, seed pods, bamboo and all kinds of fruit and vegetables. Elephants are herbivores, just like other herbivores, they do not eat meat. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Elephants may use their tusks to dig up roots, but most other forms of feeding are performed with their powerful yet incredibly agile trunks. Elephants digest crude fibre with the help of microbes present in the hind gut, as is the case in other non-ruminant herbivores like horses. The African bush elephant is famed for being the largest mammal on land. Although they came very close to our tent, they never touched it or dropped a tree on us. They concluded that this was due to a low diversity of woody trees available for browse (mostly Mopane trees) in Northern Kruger, African Elephant using his trunk to spin a branch in his mouth and peel off the bark. 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