Elephants live on vegetarian fodder. Wild elephants in
Africa and Asia eat grass, branches
and roots.
The staple food of the elephants in the circus and in the zoo however
consists of hay, straw and branches. They get also
a little bit of vegetables, fruit, bread and a lot of water.
Additionally they get fresh-cut grass in summer.
The daily fodder consumption of a fully-grown elephant
in a zoo looks more or less as follows:
Breakfast:
3 kg of bran, mixed with warm water and enriched
by vitamins and minerals.
During the day:
As many branches as possible. The breaking up of
the branches into bite-sized portions is a good occupation
for the elephants. The molars are scuffed
by the food of branches. Moreover the branches are suitable as scratching
tools and fly whisks.
Main meal in the evening:
25 kg of hay
10 kg of straw
10 - 15 kg of carrots, beetroots or feeding turnips
Additionally 3 times a week 6 kg of fruits, primarily apples, and
3 kg of vegetable, such as fennel, celery and leek.
What do elephants like to eat most?
Elephants love very much bananas and grape-sugar sweets. So they get
these delicacies as a reward after the training
or when they - like almost always - are particularly well-behaved.
Japanese
translation
