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What do Elephants Eat?

Given their large size, you can probably guess that elephants eat a massive amount of food. In fact, because they are the biggest land animals in the world, the amount of calories an elephant consumes in a 24 hour period would be enough to sustain a human being for several months.

While we know elephants eat a lot, you might be wondering “what do elephants eat?”. This question is a bit more tricky to answer if you aren’t an expert in these magnificent animals. Thankfully, in this article, we’re going to answer this question and more!

Are Elephants Plant Eaters (or ‘Herbivores’)?

Are you familiar with the eating patterns of elephants? Believe it or not, they are herbivores – let’s dive into what that means.

The Latin word “herbivora” means “to eat a small plant or herb”’. That means herbivorous animals only consume vegetables and other forms of vegetation. An elephant’s diet consists of plants and shrubs.

Over time, elephants have evolved to be able to live off of the green of the earth and nearby bodies of water. The need for a vegetation-rich diet eventually aided in transforming their body entirely. For example, elephants are equipped with flat teeth to help them grind their food and tusks to strip bark from a tree.

Unlike humans who grow baby teeth that are then replaced by adult teeth, elephants continually replace rows of their teeth throughout their lifetime. Elephants are one of the few mammals to be a polyphyodont.

How Much do Elephants Eat & Drink?

It’s no surprise that elephants eat a ton of food every day – about 70 kg of food to be exact. They also drink an insane amount of water – around 45 liters every day!

However, the amount of food an elephant consumes can depend on their environment and food availability. For example, if an elephant lives in a hotter climate they are likely to drink more water than their temperate region counterparts. In some areas, elephants are required to drink huge amounts of water in a single sitting to compensate for the scarcity of water nearby. Elephants will travel around 10-20 km a day just to find an appropriate amount of food and water for their entire herd.

Experts have recorded some elephants traveling up to 180 km per day for food in the Etosha region of Namibia. They are willing to do whatever it takes! Elephants are sure to stick with their herd when searching for food and will enjoy the fruits of the labor together.

What do Elephants Eat?

Considering their size, elephants cannot be picky when it comes to food in order to keep their energy up. They will eat anything from leaves, twigs, bark, roots, fruits and flowers. In fact, they will eat anything if it’s nearby vegetation.

Otherwise, they drink water from any nearby body of water. In the hotter regions, they use water to regulate their body temperature and cool off. Excessive amounts of water are required to keep them hydrated daily. While the plants of the different regions may vary, elephants generally eat the same things.

What do African Elephants Eat?

Surrounded by forest trees, African elephants eat from the bounty of trees and bushes to preserve their health. It can be difficult for African elephants to stumble upon long grasslands.

But an adult can eat an entire tree. For the kids, they tend to stick to the small stuff like twigs, leave, bark, and fruit. African elephants have been coined with the nickname “browsers” because of their habit to browse from one tree to the other for sustenance.

What do Asian Elephants Eat?

Grasslands are plentiful for the Asian elephants, and they take advantage of it by eating a variety of grasses, woody plants, or trees.

In the dryer areas of Asia, elephants may rely on some bushes with thorns. Otherwise, Asian elephants’ diet is very similar to their African cousins which features twigs, bark, leaves, and roots.

Asian elephants have been coined with the nickname “grazers” because of how they mozy on the grasslands and eat vegetation that is lower to the ground.

What do Savanna Elephants Eat?

Savanna elephants indulge in weeds such as Prickly Pear, Mesquite, and Rubber Vine. Elephants in this region prefer the Acacia and Bushwillow trees for munching.

Fun fact: In order to help with digestion, baby elephants will often eat their mother’s dung.

Why do Elephants Eat so Much Food?

Elephants’ large frame requires a huge amount of food to sustain themselves. They could never eat a twig and sleep the rest of the day.

There are a few reasons why elephants eat around 150 kg of food and drink 40 liters of water every day:

  • They need copious amounts of energy found in food to survive.
  • Traveling 15-30 km with a lot of weight requires excessive amounts of food to manage the journey.
  • In the drier areas, where water is scarce, elephants need to drink a large amount of water to stay hydrated.

Another Reason Why Elephants Eat so Much

Elephants require so much food because the majority of the food they eat does not digest. Since their bodies are not digesting, they are always craving more energy and therefore, more food.

But elephants have a day long digestion period. That means they have to wait an entire day before loading up the calories again. Plus, elephants only sleep around 3-4 hours a day. Just reading that is enough to make anyone feel exhausted!

What do Elephants Eat – Frequently Asked Questions

See a brief list of what elephants eat below:

  • Shrubs
  • Twigs
  • Bushes
  • Fruits
  • Tree bark
  • Shoots
  • Roots
  • Leaves

…and more.

Are Elephants Carnivores?

No. Elephants are considered herbivores, which means they do not eat meat. Instead they snack on vegetation such as twigs, shrubs, bushes, and leaves. They’re also known to enjoy fruits and tree bark. Other animals, like lions, tigers, and cheetahs, are a few carnivores that eat meat.

Do Elephants Like Bananas?

Yes, elephants eat bananas, since they grow from the earth. With that being said, you would need a lot of bananas to satisfy an elephant’s hunger!

What do Elephants Eat in The Zoo?

Zookeepers pay close attention to their elephants in order to provide a precise diet every day. They record the body-mass index of the elephant and activity levels to ensure they are receiving an appropriate amount of food.

Elephants are generally given hay, fruits, pellets and vegetables at the zoo while browsing through the available shrubs and trees.

Conclusion

If you’ve read this article, then you should be able to answer the question ‘what do elephants eat?” whenever someone asks you. As you can see, elephants consume a lot of food and a wide variety of it as well.

The simplest way to describe an elephant’s diet, though, is to say they are ‘herbivores’. Unlike other animals in the wild — who are carnivorous, meaning they consume meat — elephants like to chow down on plants and fruits.

What do Lions Eat?

Lions are incredible, yet ferocious, animals. With this in mind, it’s no wonder why so many are intrigued when it comes to how lions behave and what their diets consist of.

If you’ve ever pondered the question “what do lions eat?”, the short answer is “meat and flesh”. As apex predators, lions are adept at hunting for their food, which is typically other animals that live within its habitat. This can include anything from antelopes, giraffes, zebras, wild hogs and even crocodiles.

The long list of animals lions prey upon is one of the main reasons they are referred to as the ‘kings of the jungle’. To put it simply, lions are at the top of the food chain in the wild and can almost hunt any animal they choose given their brute strength, sharp teeth and claws, and intelligence.

In this article, we’re going to explore what lions eat in detail to help you fully understand these amazing (and massive) felines.

Exploring a Lion’s Diet

Lions are carnivorous animals that only eat meat. A carnivore is an animal that scavenges or hunts animals to gain energy and nutrients from their respective flesh and tissue.

As the “Apex Predator”, lions are at the top of the food chain which means no other animal sees them as prey. Also referred to as “Obligate Carnivores”, lions only consume animal flesh for nourishment. “Facultative Carnivores” are animals that eat non-animal foods in addition to meat.

Why Do Lions Eat Meat

As “Obligate Carnivores”, over 70% of a lion’s diet relies on meat. Lions do not naturally produce the level of amino acids their bodies need to survive. In order to fulfil their daily intake, lions have to consume animal flesh.

While lions cannot effectively digest vegetation, they still may nibble on some grass or fruits. Lions do not have the enzymes responsible to break down plant matter; they can only digest meat successfully.

What Animals do Lions Prey on?

Lions are not picky when it comes to what they prey on, including:

  • Antelopes
  • Giraffes
  • Rhinoceros
  • Buffaloes
  • Smaller elephants
  • Zebras
  • Wild Hogs
  • Crocodiles

If they were to come across these smaller prey, they are very likely to eat them as well:

  • Mice
  • Birds
  • Hares
  • Tortoises
  • Lizards

Exploring a Lion’s Diet in The Wild

Lions will eat any and every animal they are able to capture. In the wild, this results in a wide variety of animals in their daily diet.

Zebras, Pigs, buffaloes, antelopes, hippos, giraffes, rhinos, and wildebeests are the animals lions are most likely to consume. Lions will also prey on small and young offspring of large animals anywhere from 50 to 300 kg in size.

On average, an adult lion kills 15 animals annually. They usually feed off of the corpses of kills made by the hunters of the lions’ pride. In the wild, scavenging accounts for half of a lions diet.

What Do Lions Eat at The Zoo?

In a zoo, lions are usually kept to a diet of beef (sometimes the bones as well), chicken, rabbit, sheep, and horse.

In addition to the animal flesh, captive lions will indulge in commercially and specially formulated cat food. These foods are crafted to sustain all of a lion’s dietary needs.

What African Lions Eat

Usually found in the grasslands, African lions often eat:

  • Antelopes
  • Wildebeest
  • Zebras

What White Lions Eat

White lions are also obligate carnivores so they require the flesh of animals to satisfy their dietary needs.

These days, white lions are rarely found in the wild where they originated from Timbavati, South Africa. They would eat the same animals as African lions including zebras, pigs, buffaloes, gazelles, rabbits, and wildebeests.

They are often found in captivity where they are held by a variety of animals and the formulated cat food.

What Do Lions Prefer To Eat?

Considering lions’ digestive systems are crafted to digest animal flesh, they will always crave other animals. Some of their favorite animals include:

  • Antelopes
  • Buffaloes
  • Crocodiles
  • Young or small elephants
  • Giraffe
  • Hippos
  • Hogs
  • Rhinos
  • Wildebeests
  • Zebras

How Much & How Often Do Lions Eat?

An average lion in the wild eats around 10 and 25 pounds (4.5 and 11 kg) of food per day.

If there are copious amounts of food, male lions are able to eat up to 43 kg of meat compared to a female who can ingest up to 25 kg in a day.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums recommends that a male lion in captivity should eat around 3.6 kg (8 pounds) and a female should eat around 2.7 kg (6 pounds). Lions are required to eat daily. However, they are able to survive up to 14 days without food if necessary.

How Lions Eat Their Food

Like most carnivores, lions are equipped with three types of teeth:

  • Canines
  • Incisors
  • Carnassials

In order to eat their food, they use their specialized teeth and strong jaws. A lion’s mouth can open up to 11 inches (28 cm) wide. Lions also have one of the largest bites in the animal kingdom.

The extreme long and sharp canine teeth are used for grasping and killing their prey, while thier incisors are the smaller teeth in the front of the moth used for tearing smaller pieces of meat from the fresh corpse.

In order to tear away large chunks of meat, lions use their sharp carnassial teeth located in the bath of their mouth. Instead of chewing their food, lions just swallow large chunks of meat.

Where & When Do Lions Eat?

Lions almost always consume their prey immediately after to kill. But if they kill their prey in a body of water, they will pull it to the shore first.

If they are unable to finish the meal in its entirety, they will guard the carcass from unwanted scavengers and wait until they are hungry again. Sometimes, lions will enjoy their kill in the shade to avoid the heat.

While lions can hunt during the day, they usually save their prey for the nighttime. After a pride successfully kills their prey, they take turns eating the flesh. Adult males go first, then lionnesses, and then the cubs and older or weaker lions.

Do Lions Eat Each Other?

Lions usually only kill each other if there is a conflict in the pride or a shift in control in a new territory. From time to time, male lions will kill a lioness who refuses to mate in a newly acclaimed territory.

Do Lions Eat Their Cubs?

Lions will sometimes kill and eat their cubs in order to make their mother pregnant. Male lions may also kill and eat new young cubs of a new territory.

Do Lions Eat Humans?

It is uncommon for lions to eat humans, however there have been a few cases where a lion has eaten a human. The most famous case being the 1898 Tsavo man-eaters. In 9 months, two lions consumed 28 railways workers while they were building the Kenya-Uganda railway.

American and Tanzanian scientists revealed a staggering report. From 1990 to 2005, at least 563 villagers in the rural parts of Tanzania were attacked by lions and many were eaten.

Packer estimates that 200 to 400 Tanzanian people are killed by wild animals, 70 of these deaths are by lions.

At least 35 people were killed by a main-eating lion in Southern Tanzania along the Rufiji river, before game scouts hunted and killed it in April of 2004. Asian lions are also capable of eating humans. Attacks on humans were reported twice in 2012 from an area about 55 km from the Gir sanctuary.

Conclusion

As you can see, when it comes to what lions eat, it can vary depending on the region and circumstances the lion is in. Regardless, though, all lions eat meat and flesh and love to hunt for their prey, which is what makes them such a ferocious predator in the wild.

For more fun facts and guides about wild animals, check out some of the other articles on WildlifeTrip!

12 Largest Bear Species in the World

Wow! These bears are huge! They’re not the teddy bears you played with as a kid. Some may look cute and cuddly but these big furry creatures definitely aren’t. Keep your distance, especially if you encounter one in the wild. Most of us will generally see them only in zoos though, and these largest bear species of the world are definitely worth a visit. You probably won’t find all the bears in all the zoos; your best chance of seeing some bears may be in its native country.

12. Sun Bear

Sun Bearflickr/tontantravel

The sun bear is native to the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. In Malaysia, it’s known as the Malayan honey bear due to its fondness for the sweet sticky substance. The sun bear is the smallest bear, topping out at about 176 pounds and about five feet tall. They have short black fur with light-colored muzzles, with the white area extending above the eyes. The bear has powerful jaws and claws. It is declining in numbers due to deforestation of its habitat.

11. Giant panda

Giant Pandaflickr/Chi King

The giant panda is the model for cute and cuddly. It’s roly-poly with a white face and body surrounded by black fur around its neck, legs and ears. Unlike other bears, the panda is basically vegetarian, with bamboo making up 99 percent of its diet. The panda is native to the mountains of southcentral China, particularly Sichuan Province. These chubby bears have a girth up to six feet in diameter and weigh up to 250 pounds. They are an endearing symbol of China.

10. Sloth bear

Big beautiful sloth bear male is searching termites in India

The sloth bear, which evolved from the brown bear in the Pleistocene period, is native to the Indian subcontinent. It’s a nocturnal insect-eating bear with a lower lip designed to suck the bugs in. The sloth bear is lankier than the Asian black bear, with longer fur, pale muzzles with bulbous snouts and white claws. They weigh up to 290 pounds and can be as high as 6 feet. They have been known to attack humans who invade their territory.

9. Asian black bear

Black bear roaring

Asian black bears don’t like humans very much, understandable since man hunts them for body parts and traditional medicines. They’re found in mountainous regions of Asia, from Taiwan and northeastern China to the northern Indian subcontinent and the Russian Far East. The Asian black bear also is known as moon bear or white-chested bear because of the V or half-moon shaped white fur on their chest. They’re a medium-sized bear (average 6 feet tall and 300 pounds) that resembles prehistoric bears. They walk upright more than other bears.

8. Spectacled bear

Spectacled Bear

The spectacled bear got its name because rings around its eyes make it look like it’s wearing eye glasses. A medium-sized bear, the spectacled bear is the only bear native to South America. Although it’s considered a meat eater, meat makes up only about 5 percent of the spectacled bear’s diet. Its fur is generally black, but can also be brown or reddish shades. It can be found in the cloud forests of the Andes Mountains, mainly in South America’s northern and western regions.

7. American black bear

American Black Bear

The American black bear is the smallest bear species on the North American continent, but is the most commonly found anywhere from Alaska to Florida and from California to Canada’ Maritime Provinces.. They prefer forested habitat and sometimes attached themselves to human communities because of the easy availability of food – they are the garbage dump scavengers. Maybe that’s where they learned to open screw-top jars. The American black bear evolved from the sun bear thousands of years ago.

6. Eurasian brown bear

European Brown Bear

The Eurasian brown bear also is known as the European brown bear where it can be found in the mountainous regions of northern Europe, but as far south as the Pyrenees. The largest population can be found in the Siberian forests. The bear was hunted to extinction in Britain by 1000 AD. Ancient Romans used to watch these bears fight in arenas. The bear sports long shaggy hair in various shades of brown. This bear was the inspiration for the names of two constellations, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.

5. Grizzly bear

Grizzly Bears of alaska

They don’t make scary movies about this bear for nothing. The grizzly bear’s Latin name, Ursus horriblis,means “terrifying bear.” The grizzly also is known as the silvertip bear because its gray-tipped hair, and sometimes as the North American brown bear, as it’s the same species. Whatever you call it, it’s ferocious and huge – males weigh almost 800 pounds and stand more than 6 feet tall. Grizzlies range in color from blond to almost black, but typically are brown. They have a distinguishing hump on their shoulders.

4. Ussuri brown bear

Ussuri Brown Bearflickr/nAok0

The Ussuri brown bear is one of the largest brown bears, and is sometimes known as the black grizzly. They are indigenous to Russia northeast Asia. On the Shiretoko Peninsula on Japan’s Hokkaido Island, females with cubs stay near fishermen, reportedly to avoid adult male bears. Their population is declining in northeast China where they’re hunted for body parts, but they’re considered national monuments in North Korea. They’ve been known to attack and even kill humans, while they themselves are occasionally turned into dinner by Siberian tigers.

3. Kamchatka brown bear

Kamchatka Brown Bearwikipedia/Robert F. Tobler

The Kamchatka brown bear, the largest bear in Eurasia, is basically found in the Kamchatka area of Russia and surrounding islands as well as Alaska’s Saint Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea. It’s one big bear, sometimes standing as high as 9 feet and weighing almost 1,500 pounds. It is believed to be the ancestor of the Kodiak bear. Depending on the season, they dine on berries, nuts, and, preferably, fish they catch themselves. They rarely attack humans, but are trophy bear for Russian hunters.

2. Kodiak bear

kodiak brown bear

The Kodiak bear, the largest brown bear in the world, is native to Alaska’s Kodiak islands. Big doesn’t begin to describe its size: some weigh 1,500 pounds and almost 10 feet tall when standing upright, even though they eat the same foods as other brown bears. They are usually brown but can be golden; young bears have a white ring around their necks for a few years. And, yes, they do attack humans, though humans are more prone to attack them.

1. Polar bear

Polar Bear walking on blue ice

The polar bear, along with the Kodiak bear, is the largest bear species in the world. It’s the same size as the Kodiak bear, only it’s white instead of brown. The polar bear lives primarily north of the Arctic Circle, where they’ve adapted to live in the frozen north. They’re born on land but spend most of their life on sea ice, with seals making up the bulk of their diet. They’re considered a vulnerable species since climate change is melting their habitat.

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