What do elephants eat? What do elephants eat? How much does an elephant eat every day?

If from an early age we were not acquainted with elephants, perhaps we would be mistaken for the fantastic creatures of these giant animals. Do you know any other mammals able to eat with your nose, uproot trees with roots and even lift people into the air? And the additional fact that during life elephants have several times renewed molars, and at all would cause doubt and surprise.

Today it can be argued that much of what is written in old books about elephants or that has come down to us in ancient legends is at variance with reality. Of course, these animals never lived to two hundred years, they never fought dragons. But, being mammals, from ancient times having a connection with a person and uniquely adapted to the conditions of life, elephants are extremely interesting. For example, many people want to know what these giants are eating, and are amazed that such huge animals are real vegetarians. In the article we will tell in detail about what elephants eat, in what quantities they consume food and how it is extracted.

Diet

Everyone knows that at present two types of elephants are distinguished - Indian and African. They are so different from each other that one can regard them as representatives of different kinds. That's the diet of animals directly depends on the region's habitat. For example, elephants living in southern India like to chew the leaves of the ficus, and those that live in Zimbabwe prefer to consume grass like cattail and papyrus. What elephants eat depends also on the season: in rains and droughts, the diet will be different.

Feeding in captivity

And what do elephants eat at the zoo? Here they get a lot of greens and hay. In the daytime diet still includes root vegetables, several stale loaves, carrots, cabbage heads, apples. Favorite elephant dainty is, of course, bananas. Cookies and bread are also popular. And like the trunk love candy! No less than people. And just like a person, an elephant risks to overeat the sweet and grow fat, resulting in problems with health. Behavior of the animal becomes unnatural: it walks, staggering, along the fence and only waits, when the regular visitors will bring a long-awaited delicacy.

Elephants living in wildlife move very much. In search of that amount of food, which is enough for good health, mammals daily overcome considerable distances. In the zoo animals do not have the ability to move so actively, and as a result they have problems with digestion. Elephants are fed five to six times a day, sometimes fruits and vegetables are cut and, mixed with hay, are scattered around the enclosure. This is done in order to occupy the proboscis searches for delicious bits and thus, first, reduce the rate of absorption of food, and secondly, entertain.

How much does an elephant eat per day

Every day an adult animal consumes about 250 kilograms of food and 100-150 liters of liquid. For clarity, let's talk about what elephants eat at the Moscow Zoo. A large part of their daily ration consists of tree branches gathered in brooms. Most often, willow branches are used, and per day one elephant absorbs an average of forty willow twigs (about six to eight kilograms). Every day, thirty kilograms of grass and hay are laid along the trunk, and several kilos of straw are added as an additive. The grains of the menu are oats (one to two kilograms), oatmeal (four to five kilograms), bran (one kilogram), bread (several kilograms). From the juicy forages elephants put fruit: pears, apples, bananas (eight kilograms). And vegetables: carrots (fifteen kilograms), cabbage (three kilograms), beets (four to five kilos). In the summer, watermelons are included in the menu. It is noteworthy that the mammals do not eat cabbage and watermelons as a whole, but first lay them on the floor and crush them lightly with their feet. Animals also consume potatoes, but only in a boiled form, and sometimes they are given even a little onions. Here, perhaps, and the whole list of what elephants eat in a zoo.

Features of food at will

Males consume up to 170 kilograms of fresh plants per day, females are satisfied with about 150 kilograms. Usually the proboscis prefer that vegetation, which is at a height of not more than two meters. Above the elephant will be pulled by the trunk only if the treat is really worthwhile, if necessary, it can stand on the hind legs. Often young males just for fun amuse small trees.

As we have already said, what the elephants eat in Africa, and that in India, varies considerably. For example, in savannah proboscis from Uganda, up to 88 percent of the daily ration is grass, and Indian mammals consume mostly leaves, although they also do not mind pampering tubers and rootlets. The plant, as a rule, tears the elephant from the root, on the foot or the tusk shakes the ground and sends the delicacy to the mouth.

Process of absorption of food

About what elephants eat, we have already told, now I want to talk about how they do it. Hard animals are crushed with only four teeth. In the proboscis solid enamel ribs on the teeth are located transversely, so they move the lower jaw back and forth, and not from side to side, like, for example, cows. Parts of plants or wood, elephants chew quite thoroughly to assimilate nutrients with maximum benefit. The intestine of animals has a length of about 35 meters, and this is much shorter than that of representatives of cattle. Therefore, proboscis any food is not important, and wood and even more so. Approximately half of the food eaten per day remains undigested.

What do elephants eat in case of food shortage? They rip off trees, absorbing the bark, causing great damage and making it impossible in these places to restore the forest to humans. But there is nothing to be done, animals simply do not have a choice, and if the trees are spared, they will perish themselves. But thanks to what the African elephant eats , or rather, as it does, it is possible to preserve and spread many kinds of plants. The fact is that the planted proboscis carries the eaten seeds to places with a good amount of light, where they receive excellent conditions for germination. Experts calculated that if it were not for the elephants, 36 plant species would have disappeared in Africa.

The need for a liquid

The proboscis drink a lot (as already noted, up to 150 liters daily). If during the drought all available sources of water are exhausted, the animals go in search of life-giving moisture. The trunk and tusks in the dried up riverbeds they dig a hole up to a meter deep, where the groundwater flows slowly. Other inhabitants of the savanna, unable to obtain a drink in this way, wait patiently until the elephants quench their thirst, and afterwards they drink enough. Thus, the proboscis helps them survive the drought. However, it also happens that efforts to find water do not bring the desired result, and then hundreds, or even thousands, of animals die from dehydration.

In pursuit of food

Few people know that elephants eat for 17-19 hours a day. It is the time they need to meet the need for food. In the tropics, where the days are shorter than ours, the proboscis for full-fledged nutrition even has to be used for several hours at night. The animals experience the daytime heat in the water or in the shade, so as not to overheat, and therefore lose precious time, which they could spend on a meal. In drought, elephants have to cross every day a large distance between the watering place and the pasture; They are constantly moving around the territory.

Finally

In adult proboscis, there are no enemies except humans. The greatest danger for them is the narrowing of the habitat. Every day, animals need a lot of food, which means they need large areas where they can feed themselves. But these lands are necessary for people. Therefore, elephants live mostly in reserves.