Elephantine Diet

The Seaworld website states that

1. Elephants eat between 149 and 169 kg (330-375 lb.) of vegetation daily.
2. Sixteen to eighteen hours, or nearly 80% of an elephant’s day is spent feeding. Elephants consume grasses, small plants, bushes, fruit, twigs, tree bark, and roots.
3. Tree bark is a favorite food source for elephants. It contains calcium and roughage, which aids digestion. Tusks are used to carve into the trunk and tear off strips of bark.
4. Elephants require about 68.4 to 98.8 L (18 to 26 gal.) of water daily, but may consume up to 152 L (40 gal.). An adult male elephant can drink up to 212 L (55 gal.) of water in less than five minutes.
5. To supplement the diet, elephants will dig up earth to obtain salt and minerals. The tusks are used to churn the ground. The elephant then places dislodged pieces of soil into its mouth, to obtain nutrients. Frequently these areas result in holes that are several feet deep and vital minerals are made accessible to other animals. Ex: Over time, African elephants have hollowed out deep caverns in a volcano mountainside on the Ugandan border, to obtain salt licks and minerals. Hills have been carved by Asian elephants in India and Sumatra searching for salt and minerals. These carved areas in the landscape provide valuable food and shelter resources for a diverse array of native wildlife.
   
   
   
   Now what happens when elephants become playthings for humankind? They will be manipulated. Man will feed them, overfeed them, and also force them to take diet medicines! And also give them ayurveda, because it is healthier and alternative to animal-tested, toxic, western medicine! Read this  PTI clipping from my friend Sundar:
   

   

   
   

   Fortynine elephants were fed at the annual ‘anayoottu’ (feeding of elephants) ceremony of Sree Vadakkunnathan temple here this morning with a large number of people turning up to watch the visual treat.

   The ceremony was held as part of ‘Ashta Dravya Maha Ganapathy Homam’, offering of holy materials in sacrificial fire to propitiate Lord Ganesa. About 1,000 kg rice flakes, 10,000 coconuts, 2,000 kg of jaggery, 200 kg of ghee and 50 kg honey were used for the ‘homam’.

   Temple Melsanthi (Chief priest) Kottampilly Narayanan Namboodiri inaugurated the ‘anayoottu’ by giving the feed to the youngest elephant of the lot “Kuttumukku Kannan”.

   The elephants were given rice mixed with jaggery, ghee and turmeric powder. They were also fed coconut, sugarcane, pineapple, bananas and cucumber.

   In a bid to ensure the elephants did not suffer due to overeating, a herbal digestive powder, ‘Ashta Churnam’ was also given at the end of the jumbo feast.