Each elephant eats about 10 pounds of pellets per day. Every day, each animal eats about 15 pounds of produce. Common foods include carrots, apples, and bananas; less-common ones are melons, pineapples, pears, celery, parsley, lettuce, cabbage, kale, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and beets.
These plants duplicate the fiber and other nutrients found in the woody trees and bark eaten by wild elephants. That means they need to eat large quantities of food to gain all of the necessary nutrients.
At the Zoo, we provide extra salt for our elephants to consume as needed. In fact, we provide extra mineral salt for all of our herbivores, since most of the plants they consume are low in sodium.
Sometimes elephants have special dietary needs. A growing elephant requires more protein, pound-for-pound, than a fully-grown adult, so we give our young elephants relatively more grasses, browse, and hay their main source of protein. After all, these females have a huge job: 22 months of pregnancy, followed by delivery of a really big baby from to pounds!
Otherwise, they cannot survive. However, the nature-mother has provided for all of us. Then why should they eat less? Elephants eat an average of kg of food and 40 liters of water per day, for the following reasons:.
The majority of the food an elephant eats goes undigested. Without digestion, their body is always in an energy-crisis. However, the digestion process lasts up to a day. There is no way out. They have to wait for a long day before refilling their belly again. Do you know an elephant sleeps hours a day? They take a nap just like us, at night under the starry sky of Africa or in the jungles of Asia.
No, elephants are herbivorous animals. They are strict vegetarians. Meat is not on their diet list. Carnivorous animals like lions , tigers, cheetahs , and leopards eat meat. Yes, elephants are herbivores. They eat bananas. They can eat a bunch of it easily. Elephants are given a definite diet per day. They are fed according to their body-mass index and biological functioning. Even they keep a keen watch on their activities to chart a perfect amount of food for each member of the group.
In a zoo, elephants generally eat different fruits, hay, pellets, and vegetables. They also browse through shrubs and trees available in the zoo. Did any of these facts on what elephants eat surprise you, or any relevant facts you think we should add? Please do join in using the comments section below! Please log in again. The login page will open in a new tab. After logging in you can close it and return to this page. What Do Elephants Eat?
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