Read more of Jay’s stories and follow him on Instagram and Twitter. As elephants are both grazers and browsers, it becomes easy for them to locate food. Much of the grasses and plants that elephants eat aren’t actually digested by elephants so this simply comes out in their dung. And while all the elephants forage for wild food (bamboo, leaves, grasses, tree bark, etc) from 6pm-7am daily, we would only be photographing the food provided by keepers for the elephants. For a day, an adult elephant eats up to 300 kg of grass and leaves, which is about 5% of their weight, and absorbs up to 200 liters of water, and in very hot weather even more. You can read more about “what do elephants eat” here. And you’d be right; the number of calories one elephant can eat in a day could sustain a person for months, no jokes. Elephants eat an average of 150 kg of food and 40 liters of water per day, for the following reasons: Here’s the main reason for an elephant eating that much. One can see how the weight of a baby-elephant develops by observing Panang (born on the 13th of February 1989). During the day: Eating branches. Let’s know about what African and Asian elephants eat. The majority of that is hay – up to 300 pounds for Willy alone! There is no looking right or left. According to Elephant studies, elephants spend 16 hours a day just eating! © 1996 - 2019 National Geographic Society. Once weighed, we placed the food in a pile for the photograph. Sometimes they prefer to eat short woody plants and trees. How much does an elephant eat in a day? They can eat a bunch of it easily. How Much does an Elephant Eat? In Africa, it is hard for them to find long grasslands. We grow baby teeth and then replace them with permanent adult teeth. If you own a pair of glasses, clean it with ease. 1.15 "How much food and water do elephants eat/drink in a day?" If you love elephants, traveling to Thailand can take you up-close and personal with the objects of your affection. Adult elephants require an enormous amount of food. The majority of that is hay – up to 300 I’d like to acknowledge a special thanks to Elephant’s World for their support in creating this story and invitation to visit their sanctuary in Kanchanabui Province, Thailand. Since 1888, National Geographic has pushed the boundaries of exploration, investing in bold people and transformative ideas, providing more than 14,000 grants for work across all seven continents, reaching 3 million students each year through education offerings, and engaging audiences around the globe through signature experiences, stories and content. They are strict vegetarians. The elephant’s trunk is a combination of their nose and upper lip and is able to touch, grasp and smell. Privacy Notice |  Sustainability Policy |  Terms of Service |  Code of Ethics, National Geographic Young Explorer Jay Simpson is part of the, The National Geographic Society is a global nonprofit organization that uses the power of science, exploration, education and storytelling to illuminate and protect the wonder of our world. Historically, mahouts avoided these costs by keeping the elephants in the forest, allowing them to browse frequently throughout the day and overnight. They even try to eat up the soul of a tree! To sustain such a gigantic figure, they have to eat that much. However, the digestion process lasts up to a day. Wild Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) can spend an average of 16-18 hours of every day eating. An interesting fact is that elephants do not have a very efficient digestive system and they digest, on an average, only forty percent of the food they eat . Elephants eat between 149 and 169 kg (330-375 lb.) If anything is green nearby, they tend to latch onto it. In fact they are virtual eating machines. In dry regions of Asia, elephants also eat thorny bushes. Usually they quench their thirst once a day and do not pay much attention to water quality. How much does an elephant eat in a day? You can read about Baobab – The Upside Down Tree here. Here’s another important fact before parting. On average, the African elephant grows up to the age of 30 and keeps adding weight. Adult elephants can eat between 200-600 pounds of food a day. of vegetation daily. Q: How much do elephants eat and drink? Elephants tend to stay near water sources. Elephants eat roughly 10 percent of their bodyweight in food every day, so to start, we knew we needed about 360 kg (nearly 800 lbs!) Elephants may spend 12-18 hours a day feeding. Elephants living there drink a lot of water to keep them hydrated and to store enough water in their body for their next trip. Regularly eat the soil, rich in the necessary mineral salts (iron, bicarbonate). How fast do baby-elephants grow? Yeah! And this is just one of their 21 elephants. Captive elephants consume much less than wild elephants because they spend less energy searching for food and are often guaranteed a next meal. In the end, the menu came to: Bana Grasses 30kg (66lbs) Banana Trees 30kg (66lbs) Watermelons 30kg (66lbs) Cucumbers 30kg (66lbs) Bananas 30kg (66lbs) Pumpkins 30kg (66lbs) Yam Beans / Sweet Potato 30kg (66lbs) Corn 30kg (66lbs) Pineapples 30kg (66lbs) Papaya 30kg (66lbs) (Wild Foods) 60kg (132lbs) TOTAL 3,60kg (794lbs). You can read about African vs Asian Elephant, Which Is Which? They take care of 21 elephants, all of which are orphans, elderly, or disabled. Elephants feed for 12-18 hours every day (that’s about three-quarters of their life!) Sixteen to eighteen hours, or nearly 80% of an elephant’s day is spent feeding. Elephants are heroes of fairy tales not only in African and Asian countries, but even in those countries in which they are not found, such as Russia, for example. To support its large size it needs huge amounts of food. On average, the larger adult male elephants will eat 250 – 300 pounds (113 to 136 kg) of food every DAY. Elephants do not like peanuts (the cartoons are wrong). Do you know an elephant sleeps 3-4 hours a day? Some are known to eat up to 500 pounds (226 kg) of food, or more, in the wild. In hot areas, an elephant drinks more water than an elephant living in a reasonably average temperate region. They also drink an insane amount of water – around 45 liters every day! Elephants are mammals but don’t grow teeth just like us. Woah! For choosing such a vegetarian diet the internal environment of their body and their outer eating parts started to transform. Elephants eat between 149 and 169 kg (330-375 lb.) An African elephant takes on a large pumpkin – no contest! 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