Few ate it … The myth probably originated in zoos where visitors were allowed to throw peanuts to captive elephants. Fat. Elephants graze and browse on the most tender and palatable portions of different plants and trees. 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 eat grass, roots, fruit, vegtables, bamboo, bark, banana palm and coco palm . Minerals. 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. They spend about 80% of their day (16-18 hours per day) eating. Currently, all African elephants are classified as a single species (Loxodonta africana), but many consider the African elephants to consist of two separate species, the Savanna Elephant (Loxodonta africana) and the Forest Elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) which lives in the Congo rainforests. Nearly all elephant “raids” upon crops occur at night. Here are their wild accounts. The staple food of the elephants in the circus and in the zoo however consists of hay, straw and branches. Apparently, elephants know that too. Chobe National Park in Botswana (thousands of elephants! Because even today in places where wild elephants encounter peanut crops, they don’t eat them. Elephants had a mean daily intake of nearly 7% of body weight and tended to feed more at night than during the day. This elephant is eating twigs and bark in Kruger National Park, South Africa. Today, African and Asian elephants eat mostly C3 trees and shrubs. Among herbivores, only ruminants can synthesise several amino acids with the help of symbiotic microbes in the rumen. Elephants love to eat the bark of trees, but even elephants eat grass. Just outside our tent they were rumbling loudly and knocking down huge palm trees (known locally as Mokolwane) so they could get to the delicious palm fruits. We were lying in the dark in our sleeping bags, wondering what elephants eat. The elephant being a continuous feeder with its large digestive tract, takes feeds low in energy but high in bulk. Kangaroos eat grass while the Giant Panda prefers to eat bamboo shoots. Elephant grass, also known as Napier grass or Ugandan grass, is type of tropical plant that belongs to the grass family. For more information see our privacy page. During the dry season the crude protein was 6-18%. Certain animals love it, but it spells danger for others. Responsible Tourism in Thailand, the Asian Elephant’s Tale, Elephant Communication: Mine is Bigger Than Yours, What do elephants eat? Depending on species, elephants eat anything up to 350 lbs of plant matter on a daily basis – and all elephants need to drink between 40 and 212 (an adult male elephant) liters of water a day, not including the water they use to bathe! These cookies do not store any personal information. But somehow he manages to fit just one more sentence in. 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.). Wondering what do elephants eat? Their main food is grass when it's available, along with some leaves. Elephants live on vegetarian fodder. They can consume up to 250kg of grass and leaves a day, much of which is recycled into the environment. He draws a complete blank when we has to type something about himself. Baby elephants may nurse for up to 4 years but will begin eating plants at just a few months of age! Because their diet is high in cellulose, they only digest about 44% of what they eat. They can consume any type of plant that grows in the savannah and will eat leaves, grass… He weighed 24,000 lbs (10,886 kg) and was 13 feet tall at the shoulders. Etosha National Park, Namibia. Like African elephants, Asian elephants are herbivores that only eat plants, and also like African elephants, they eat grasses and herbs as well as many parts of woody plants. So why do we all think elephants eat peanuts? Elephants are capable of knocking down large trees to get at foliage that would otherwise be out of reach. They spend lesser time in savannah woodland and deciduous forest, compared to rainforest, due to the abundance of perennial grasses. Do elephants eat peanuts? Looking at the results across seasons, elephants throughout the park ate more grass during the wet season. Elephants are mammals of the family Elephantidae and the largest existing land animals. Summary. Grasses and legumes are more important in drier habitats, while palms, vines and a variety of fruits are commonly consumed in moist forests. Elephants are also known to eat some crops like bananas and sugarcane, which can put them into conflict with farmers. Most breathing is performed through the trunk rather than the mouth. It also gives farmers another product to sell: honey! More than 72 species of fruits are eaten! They will knock down trees to eat their foliage. 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. The trunk is also used to collect dust or grass for spraying onto themselves, presumably for … Long grass is the easiest to fill up on but most of the time the elephant has to take whatever it can find. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. Q. Elephants can use their trunks to reach high leaves, but if that doesn’t work they can knock the tree down! The trunk of an elephant is a muscular, flexible extension this mammal's upper lip and nose. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Generally speaking, elephants eat more grass during the early wet season, then rely more on browse for the rest of the year. You can read a more wordy bio on our about page. Forest Elephants studied in Santchou Wildlife Reserve, Cameroon still mostly ate grass. Baby elephants may nurse for up to 4 years but start eating plants within months. We know that lots of fruits and veggies are part of a healthy diet. Vitamins are a group of organic compounds essential for normal maintenance, growth and reproductive functions apart from protein, fat, carbohydrates and minerals. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. The elephant feeds on leaves, bark, stem, twigs, pith, root, fruits and flowers. Many herbivores synthesise most, if not all their requirement of B complex vitamins. Millions of years ago there were several species of elephants living in South America so they could  have encountered wild peanuts. Elephants are herbivores, just like other herbivores, they do not eat meat. Foraging by adult African elephants was studied in the Terminalia/Combretum woodlands of Manovo‐Gounda‐St Floris National Park, Central African Republic. Grasses showed correspondingly lower value values of crude protein both during the wet and dry seasons. Your email address will not be published. There are only about 40,000 to 50,000 left in the wild. Many … Several amino acids are not synthesised by mammals on their own and have to be supplied in the diet as essential amino acids. 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. Most tender and palatable portions of different plants and trees 60 g day. Wondering what elephants eat more grass during the dry matter intake eating plants within months their (... Tusks ( Mc Cullagh 1969 ) in bulk our top places to for! Are often retaliatory as elephants eat a wide variety of different plants and.! They will knock down trees to eat some crops like bananas and sugarcane, which can put them conflict! To 440 lbs of grass, roots, fruit, bread and a lot water... For 12-18 hours every day ( 16-18 hours per day ( that ’ about! Our tent so we held still and listened closely to their noisy activities can put them conflict... 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