Zoo database

Elephant

Elephas maximus & Loxodonta africana

Natural diet Elephant

Fruits
Grasses
Herbs
Leaves

Elephants are herbivorous intermediate grazers and browsers. In the wild, they usually spend a few days eating in one place before they move on to the next. They drink water whenever its available.

Feeding advice Elephant

Feed quantity per day

1.5-3% of body weight

Sample percentage calculation

If an animal weighs 4000 kg and eats 2% of its body weight, it will get

4000 x 0.02 = 80 kg feed in total per day

Feed composition

20% Concentrates
60% Grass, lucerne and other roughages
20% Browse

Proportions (fresh product)

0.2 x 80 kg = 16000 g concentrates
0.6 x 80 kg = 48000 g grass, lucerne and other roughages
0.2 x 80 kg = 16000 g browse

Diet suggestions

Not recommended

Fruits

Additional advice

Divide the “Feed quantity per day” over at least two feeding moments per day.
Supplement the diet with ad libitum roughage and/or browse (read more about browsers and grazers).
Supplement adequate vitamin E by feeding sufficient concentrates.
Although present in their natural diets, feeding fruits might lead to abnormal fermentation in the hindgut because of high sugar levels in cultivated fruits compared to wild fruits (read more about nutritional values of (wild) fruits and vegetables).
Stimulate foraging behaviour by hiding, stacking or hanging the feed (read more about feed enrichment and foraging behaviour).

Common diseases

An unbalanced diet may result in one of these more commonly occurring diseases/conditions:

Obesity
Vitamin E deficiency
Colic
Hypocalcaemia
Teeth or tusk problems

Species within this group

Elephas maximus

Loxodonta africana

Feed quantity per day

Sample percentage calculation

Feed composition

Proportions (fresh product)

Elephant Bar

Elephant treat

Hartog Lucerne-mix

Boskos Browser

Natural Browser - 10 mm

Elephant pellets

Jannicke Kiezebrink

Director Operations