African elephants are herbivores. A herbivore is an organism that eats from a plant based diet. African elephants eat a variety of food such as tree foliage, fruits, herbs, and grasses. Their diet also consists of roots, twigs, bark, and wood. The Elephants chew on the wood to get the nutrients from it, than they spit it out. They do not digest the wood. Tree bark is seen as a delicacy for Elephants.
During the wet season, Elephants typically will graze the grasses, while in the dry season, the Elephants eat whatever they can to get the nutrients from. This is because during the dry season, with limited rainfall, the elephant's herbivore diet's food can be rather hard to find. Normally they choose foods that are high in nutritional content. This is because during the wet season, there are more fruits and grasses available. But when the dry season happens, there still is foliage, but it might not be that high in nutritional content.
Elephants feed themselves throughout their day as part of their routine. Included with eating mass amounts of food, they must drink at least 50 gallons of water a day to stay hydrated. Having a large body that is generating a lot of heat and taking on a lot of heat from the environment, makes it a crucial daily task to drink a lot of water.
Elephants feed themselves throughout their day as part of their routine. Included with eating mass amounts of food, they must drink at least 50 gallons of water a day to stay hydrated. Having a large body that is generating a lot of heat and taking on a lot of heat from the environment, makes it a crucial daily task to drink a lot of water.