What do elephants eat? (Elephant Food)

Elephant food and habitat

How much ‘elephant food’ will be required for 10000 elephants? Nearly 10,000 Asian elephants live in northeast India. It is one of the last remaining strongholds for the species. India’s elephants, especially those of Assam, live in many different habitats, including the flood plains of the Brahmaputra and the foothills of the Himalayas.  

Himalayan foothills adjacent to Arunachal Pradesh in Assam is ideal habitat for elephants. Unfortunately, most of this habitat has been stripped and deforested. Forest cover in the area is shrinking rapidly. It has led to elephants searching for food in populated areas, especially at night.

Elephants usually eat grasses, bamboo, leaves, bark, shoots, creepers, palms, and bamboo. Sometimes, they prefer seasonal fruits, too, such as jackfruits, elephant apples, etc. The food habits of animals also change as the habitat changes. Elephants are becoming increasingly fond of paddy, for instance. The country wine made from rice by the locals also attracts elephants. Favorite elephant foods are paddy and rice wine.

How much do elephants eat a day in kg?

The average elephant eats 150 kilograms of food each day to survive! Elephants spend from 16 to 18 hours eating on a typical day. The average elephant drinks 68.4 to 98.8 liters of water a day. However, they can consume up to 152 liters. A male elephant can drink 212 liters of water in less than five minutes.

What do elephants eat in the jungle?

Elephants typically eat a variety of jungle plants, fruits, and vegetables. Usually, they enjoy wild grass, bananas, bamboo shoots, bamboo leaves, elephant apples, and jungle leaves. Elephants love eating tree bark. As it contains calcium and roughage, it aids digestion. An elephant can digest only 40-50% of the food it consumes. They eat grass by ripping it up from the ground or pulling leaves from trees with their trunks. To drink water, elephants suck water into their trunks and squirt it into their mouths.

They dig up the earth to get salt and minerals for their diet. Elephants use their feet or tusks to churn up the ground. It then intakes nutrients from the dislodged soil. Often, this process leaves holes in the soil, which allows other animals to access minerals. Such salt leaks are common in our area along the Assam-Arunachal border. These salt leaks in the landscape benefit a wide range of wildlife as well.

 What do elephants eat outside the jungle?

Elephants used to find refuge in tea gardens when they came out of the forest. They often rest by water bodies in tea gardens because they require a great deal of water. Elephants, however, do not eat tea leaves; they rarely find anything to eat inside a tea garden during the day. As a result, they raid paddy fields, farmlands, and even kitchens during the night to obtain food. A successful raid might result in rice, bananas, sugar cane, corn, vegetables, cooked rice, salt, and sometimes even rice wine. 

What do elephants eat in captivity?

Mahouts, the keepers, provide vegetables and fruits, including rice, sugar cane, bananas, jackfruits, and more. It is despite this that banana stems are the primary food of captive elephants. Domesticated elephants eat much less food than the maximum amounts described above.

What do elephants eat in the zoo?

In a zoo, elephants usually eat different fruits, banana stems (lots of them), and vegetables. Furthermore, they browse over the shrubs and trees at the zoo. The zoo’s management also provides extra salt for our elephants to consume as needed.