Their diet consists mainly out of grasses, fruits, roots, shrubs and leaves. These elephants eat soft shoots, shrubs, fruits, and leaves. African elephant Trunks and tusks. Ask what do elephants eat and the answer can be almost everything on the savanna!When an elephant comes to a forest it doesn’t just pick leaves from a tree. Elephants eat roots, grasses, fruit, and bark, and they eat a lot of these things. This means that their food consists of leaves, twigs, branches, grass, roots, seeds, fruits (including wild fruits), and flowers.However, 50% of an elephant’s diet is made up of leaves, while the other 50% is supplemented with the other items mentioned above. While they use their long flexible trunk to bring down tree branches or pluck leaves, they use tusks to tear at branches. It takes a long time to find and eat 300 pounds of food. Young elephants learn from their mothers and other elephants what is good for them to eat. Between these two species, the African elephant is the larger one. But an adult can eat an entire tree. They mostly eat barks and leaves which make up 70% of the elephant’s diet. 2. When elephants replace the third set of teeth they die of starvation. – Snow Leopard Lifespan, What Do Snow Leopards Eat? An elephant can put away more than 400 pounds of vegetation a day, grazing on brush, grasses and trees – whatever is available. 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. Anywhere from 30% to 60% of what an elephant eats is grass. How Many Babies Do They Have? Tree barkis one of their favorite foods as it contains calcium. Adult elephants can ingest up to 200 kilograms of plant, daily. But an adult can eat an entire tree. In the wild, they eat a wide variety of plants, from savannah grasses, shrubs, and herbs, to woody trees, bark, and fruits. In dry seasons, elephants eat exposed roots, tree barks, small shrubs, small leaves, large branches, small twigs, and dry leaves. They are also known to rip bark and uproot young trees. Can They See In The Dark? The African elephant, Loxodonta Africana, is the largest land animal in existence.The average male stands 3.2 metres (10.5 feet) at the shoulder, and the females, 2.6 metres (8.5 feet). Elephants consume as much as 220 to 660 pounds of vegetation each day. They will eat leaves, fruits, and mineral lick. Most African elephants prefer feeding on young leaves or trees for the mature vegetation is only 10 – 40% assimilable whereas the young leaves are 40 – 70% digestible. African elephants eat grassy vegetation, leaves and branches of trees. Do you want to know what do African elephants like to eat? Ask what do elephants eat and the answer can be almost everything on the savanna! – White Tiger Lifespan, Where Do White Tigers Come From? African elephants browse, eating mostly grasses in the wet season, adding leaves, twigs, tree bark and branches in the dry season. I am a contributing author and co-founder of animalsanswers.com. African bush elephants can consume as much as 500 pounds of vegetation a day. What do African Elephants Eat? Elephants are herbivores and only eat grasses, herbs, fruit, plants and trees. Their daily food intake is almost as much as 4-7% of their body weight. A big elephant can eat up to 600 pounds of food a day! Large populations of elephants can be devastating to the ecosystem as they uproot trees and roots. They are also known to rip bark and uproot young trees. As a feed for these amazing animals, young trees and shrubs, which they pull with a trunk, are also suitable. On average, an African elephant requires about 220-250 kilograms of food and 60 liters of water while its Asian counterpart consumes about 130-150 kilograms and 40 liters of water. They travel great distances and by doing so, elephants are able to digest large amount of food. Raccoons in Daylight, What Eats Arctic Foxes? On average an adult elephant can eat up to 150 – 200 kg of food and they drink around 120 litres of water a day. It takes elephants 24 – 48 hours to digest the food but it usually depends on the quality of food available. Although the African elephant eat a lot they have an inefficient digestive system that can process only 40% of its food. Under natural conditions, elephants eat mostly grass, tree leaves, flowers, wild fruits, twigs, shrubs, bamboo, and bananas. The forest elephants are found in the denser forests of the Congo basin and West Africa. For their size, it is understandable that elephants require large quantities of food. Answer: The Zoo’s five African elephants eat between 100 and 400 pounds of food a day, depending on the elephant. – Arctic Fox Predators, How Long Do Arctic Foxes Live? Elephants are the largest terrestrial animal and only two species are left in today’s world which are African elephants and Asian elephants. Elephants like grass because the taste is sweet and grass is easy to digest. As the world's largest land mammal,The Elephant weighs in at 7 tonnes and can reach a height of 3.3 m. To fuel this large body, elephants need to eat … Asians are grazers and consume a similar range of plants, including large amounts of bamboo. Elephants are herbivores. Answer: The Zoo’s five African elephants eat between 100 and 400 pounds of food a day, depending on the elephant. Elephants shower themselves with dust and sand for the same reasons. The Asian elephant inhabits the forests of Thailand, southern India, and Sri Lanka. When the water becomes scarce, they will dig waterholes with their feet to take the water enough to drink. Malpas, R. C. (1977). They prefer living closer to the source of food and water and can cross water bodies in search of food. Elephants can swim across lakes and rivers with only the tip of their trunks showing. – Complete Guide to African Elephant Diet, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window). By Victor Kiprop on September 26 2019 in Environment. This species was previously considered to be a sub-species of the African bush elephant. All elephant species are herbivores, consuming only plant material. The majestic African elephant is a herbivore and eats mostly grass, flowers and wild fruits, tree bark, leaves, roots and twigs.. Elephants’ ears dissipate their body heat, and African elephants need to dissipate more heat than Asian elephants, since they live in a hotter climate (that’s getting even hotter with climate change ). Surrounded by forest trees, African elephants eat from the bounty of trees and bushes to preserve their health. The African elephant is significantly more prominent compared to the Asian elephant and therefore eats more food than the latter. Elephants are herbivores, meaning they eat plants. The African savanna elephant is probably the most herbivorous of all land mammals. African elephants are the largest elephants in the world and they spend three quarters of their time eating. vvaleedkhalid@gmail.com Elephants eat between 150 and 170 kilograms of food per day. For the kids, they tend to stick to the small stuff like twigs, leave, bark, and fruit. Where Do Raccoons Go During the Day? Wondering what do elephants eat? Elephants are the largest terrestrial animal and only two species are left in today’s world which are African elephants and Asian elephants. As a feed for these amazing animals, young trees and shrubs, which they pull with a trunk, are also suitable. email2ubaid@gmail.com. Diet. They have an herbivorous diet too. – Tiger Running Speed, How Long Do White Tigers Live? African elephants are pure herbivores. On the bottom of its feet, the African Bush elephant possesses spongy pads, which soften its footsteps, allowing the animal to walk with making minimum noise. Luckily, elephants have a good memory and can memorize water points and feeding locations. Where Do Raccoons Sleep? Given their size, it is surprising how hard they can be to spot in the bush. Elephants are big vegetarians. African Wildlife Foundation is funding research, like the PLOS ONE study, to create comprehensive data on the forest elephant.This groundbreaking study has the largest dataset on this species and its findings showed that their population has declined dramatically — by 62 percent — in the last decade. What do African elephants eat? They also enjoy munching on natural fruits like figs, marulas and more. Case in point = African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana). This means that they live on; leaves, herbs, barks and stems. Diet of the African Elephant. Elephants are herbivorous animals and will consume almost anything vegetarian from bark, leaves, shrubs, twigs, roots, fruits, and flowers. In the wet season, the diets of elephants from both Northern and Southern Kruger consisted of about 50% grass, but in the dry season the northern elephants ate substantially more grass (40%) than their southern counterparts (only 10… During the rainy season, elephants do not need to travel long distances to feed, but during the dry season, they can travel for over 80 miles in a single day. bioweb.uwlax.edu. Elephants may spend up to 18 hours a day merely eating. Raccoon Range and Raccoon Habitat, A Raccoon Out During the Day? How much does an elephant eat a day? Most of them are defecated without proper digestion. This happens due to climate change. The African elephants can drink up to 50 gallons of water every day and choose to live in a habitat that has got the plenty of both, the water as well as the food. What do African elephants eat? 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