What do elephants eat?

Elephants are herbivores, spending 16 hours a day collecting plant food.
Their diet is at least 50% grasses, supplemented with leaves, bamboo, twigs, bark, roots, and small amounts of fruits, seeds and flowers.




Elephants eat between 149 and 169 kg of vegetation daily.
Sixteen to eighteen hours, or nearly 80% of an elephant’s day is spent feeding. Elephants consume grasses, small plants, bushes, fruit, twigs, tree bark, and roots.
Tree bark is a favorite food source for elephants.
It contains calcium and roughage, which aids digestion.
Tusks are used to carve into the trunk and tear off strips of bark.

To supplement the diet, elephants will dig up earth to obtain salt and minerals.
The tusks are used to churn the ground. The elephant then places dislodged pieces of soil into its mouth, to obtain nutrients. Frequently these areas result in holes that are several feet deep and vital minerals are made accessible to other animals.