Elephant Valley
Menu- WELCOME TO THE ELEPHANT VALLEY!
- FROM ASIA OR AFRICA?
- FROM THE LIFE OF ELEPHANTS
- WATER OVER GOLD
- BIG EATERS
- ELEPHANTS ENDANGERED
- HARD LIFE WITH ELEPHANTS
- HARD LIFE WITH PEOPLE
- PARTNERSHIP OF PEOPLE AND ELEPHANTS
- ELEPHANTS IN CEREMONIES
- ELEPHANTS AT WORK
- ELEPHANTS FROM PINNAWALA
- GANESHA
- ELEPHANTS IN HINDUISM
- THE SOVEREIGN WHITE ELEPHANT
- THE DREAM OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT
BIG EATERS
Although Asian elephants are sworn vegetarians, they are not fussy eaters. Their diet consists of up to 80 different species of plants, from roots and bark to fruits. Take a look at their eating habits up close!
GRAZING OR BROWSING?
Elephants adapt their diet to the available food supply. Most of the year they prefer browsing (i.e. twigs with leaves and bark), which they supplement with grass, herbs, fruits, tubers and the pulp of succulent stems. During the rainy season, however, when young grass is sprouting, grazing may predominate
CHOICE MENU
An elephant starts out very skilfully when handling food. For example, it first peels the fat stems of banana trees to get at the juicy pulp inside, and from the mimosa it again carefully takes only the small flowers. Before it swallows roots it gets rid of dirt by shaking them or rinsing them in water.“
CONTINUAL MUNCHIES
Elephant digestion is relatively inefficient. Nearly half of all the food an elephant eats passes through the body without changing and the faeces contain a lot of usable “straw”. Therefore an elephant has to consume a lot of food and dedicates 18 hours a day to eating.
AN UNDEMANDING EATER
An elephant’s eating needs are much lower than they appear to be. Although it consumes 150kg of food a day, the food need not be particularly nutritious. Moreover, the elephant’s large body has greater reserves on which it can draw, and so thanks to its size an elephant can survive longer periods of scarcity.
A TRUNK INSTEAD OF A HAND
The most useful organ for an elephant while feeding is the trunk. It performs the same role as a hand does for a human and an elephant is able to carry out even very subtle movements, e.g. peeling peanuts. It is able to pull otherwise unattainable morsels of food toward it, adjust them and put them in its mouth.
WHEN A CALF ELEPHANT FEEDS
A new-born calf elephant drinks up to 9.5 litres of milk a day and nurses with its mouth. It doesn’t really know how to use its trunk, which is more of a hindrance and the calf has to hold it to one side whilst drinking. It’s able to manage the trunk perfectly only in its fourth month, when it begins to taste adult food with the help of the trunk.
FAVOURITE FRUITS
When fruit begins to ripen, it’s a small feast for elephants. They gather around suitable trees and gorge on it with abandon. They swallow small fruits whole; they first crush bigger ones with their feet and then collect the individual pieces with their trunks.
