How much do elephants eat?

Answer 1

An adult elephant will eat 300-600 pounds of food per day. Now that just makes me hungry.
Elephants eat between 149 and 169 kg (330-375 lb.) of vegetation daily.
Elephants in the wild consumes grass, leaves and such, with a high percentage of water, and may eat up to 300 kgs/day. In captivity they eat about 30 kg hay, 10 kg carrots or similar, and 5-10 kg of bread. Some zoos give a "breakfast" of different grains, about 3-10 kg. Also vitamin's, (especially A and D) minerals, (salt, calcium) and trace elements (such as Selenium) are often added. Depending on the temperature, they drink from 100 to 300 liters/day. Above 250 liters a day indicates something is wrong. Elephants suffering from TBC may drink upto 600 liters.
Elephants are pure vegetarians. Their diet includes huge quantities of grass and leaves from trees. They are also known to eat fruits and coconut. They are especially fond of Bananas. They are known to eat over 150 kgs of vegetation in a single day.

Answer 2

Elephants are herbivores (plant eaters), but they cannot digest cellulose, the substance that makes up much plant matter. They spend about three-quarters of their time, day and night, selecting, picking, preparing and eating food. An adult elephant in the wild will eat in the region of 100 to 200 Kg (220 to 440 lb.) of vegetation per day depending on the habitat and the size of the elephant.

The number of plant species eaten by any one elephant may vary but it is likely to be more than fifty. About 30-60 per cent of elephant diet is grass, if it is available. Like humans and apes, an elephant's choice of food-plants will be determined partly by what grows locally, partly by what was learned from its mother, and partly by what it has discovered by trying novel food items. Elephants also select their meals taking into account the time it takes to prepare each mouthful. Eating long grass is probably the easiest and quickest way for an elephant to fill up! On the other hand, one of the most time-consuming food-items for elephants to prepare is bark. With larger trees, the elephant drives a tusk between the bark and the sapwood and then yanks a strip off the tree with its trunk. The soft wood of some trees such as the baobab is also eaten. Such tusking sometimes destroys the whole tree.

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Answer 3

Our zoo has stated it's about 300 pounds of food a day- this would equate to around 20 hours a day! That's a long time spent stuffing your face.

And while they eat "food" a better part of their day, they only drink water about once a day- they can go 3 days without it- keep in mind though, if the water is readily available, as it would be in a zoo, they will often drink 40-50 gallons on water at one time!

Answer 4

Maybe 600 lbs max? Depends on calories, location, type of elephant, age of elephant, etc.

Answer 5

Around 250 kgs of fodder

Answer 6

well 20-30 pounds of food

Answer 7

like 1000 pound or something

Answer 8

alot