What kind of food do elephants eat?

Elephants are the largest land-dwelling gregarious mammals in the world. They usually live in families. Sometimes several elephants gather together to form hundreds of elephants. Due to climate and man-made reasons, there are fewer and fewer species of this group. At present, there are only three kinds of elephants left on earth: Asian elephants, African grassland elephants and African forest elephants. Let's take a look at what elephants eat.

What kind of food do elephants eat?

Elephants feed on tender leaves, wild fruits, weeds, wild vegetables, tender bamboos and other plants. Pure vegetarians, veritable Hercules and giants in the land animal kingdom, have long noses and tusks as weapons, so they do not have any natural enemies except humans in nature, and cannot see at night, so they are easy to be attacked by lions at night.

How long does an elephant live?

1. African elephant: the African elephant, the largest living terrestrial mammal, is listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered species of Wild Fauna and Flora. The breeding period is not fixed. The gestation period is about 22 months. Each litter is sexually mature at the age of 13 to 14 years and has a life span of more than 60 years.

2. Asian elephants: Asian elephants are first-class protected animals in China and are listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered species of Wild Fauna and Flora. The breeding period is not fixed, with a gestation period of 20 to 22 months, with a sexual maturity of 9 to 12 years and a lifespan of 70 to 80 years.

The extant species of elephants

1. Grassland elephant: the African elephant lives in the vast tropical forests, jungles and grasslands of Africa. It is the largest living terrestrial mammal. Gregarious, to be led by a male elephant, daily, no settlement, feed on weeds, leaves, bark, twigs, etc., big ears and pointed lower parts, both sexes have long and curved ivory, extremely irritable temperament, will take the initiative to attack other animals.

2. African forest elephants: African forest elephants have round ears, small individuals, generally no more than 2.5 meters high, the tallest is only 2.8 meters, and weigh 3 tons. According to genetic analysis, it is proved that it is not the same species as the African prairie elephant, and it has obviously different genetic characteristics from the African prairie elephant, and its appearance characteristics are also very different. In the past, smaller Japanese elephants were also found in the African rainforest. Now they are considered to be immature individuals of African forest elephants, with larger flesh under their feet, better adapted to the life of water shortage, knowing very well to save water, and will look for water sources in the desert.

3. Asian elephants: Asian elephants are distributed in southern Yunnan Province, China, and found abroad in South and Southeast Asia, living in tropical forests, jungles or grasslands, living in groups, with poor vision (mainly because the elephant's eyelashes are long so it affects eyesight). Sensitive smell and hearing, like water bath when hot, foraging at dawn and dusk, feeding on weeds, leaves, bamboo leaves, wild fruits, etc., shoulder height 2.6 meters 3.3 meters, weight 570 tons.