Yes, elephants are herbivores and they eat a diet entirely made up of plants, vegetables and fruits. Whether they live in the wild or in captivity elephants avoid meat completely, sticking to vegetation or if they’re lucky special treats from their keepers!
Elephants are the biggest land animals in the world and they have to eat a huge amount of food every day, somewhere between 100 and 600 pounds depending on their species (African or Asian) and size. Alongside this massive food intake elephants can drink up to 50 gallons of water every day too.
Find that much food in the wild isn’t easy and that’s why wild elephants can spend up to 18 hours a day searching for and eating food.
What exactly do elephants eat?
Similar to many other grazing animals, most of an elephant’s diet is made up of grass (in the wild) or hay (in captivity). Elephants will also happily munch on most other vegetation including leaves, branches and roots.
Elephants also love nearly all fruits and vegetables, they’re certainly not fussy when it comes to these comparatively calorie and nutrient dense foods. Some of an elephant’s favourite treats in captivity include leafy greens like lettuce, spinach and cabbage or sweet treats like apples, bananas and sugarcane.