One of the most common questions that is asked during our keeper chats at the Asian Elephant Habitat is “What do they eat?” It is hard to imagine just how much one elephant can eat, but we are feeding seven! If you are adding that up, we have over 20 tons of elephant — that is A LOT of food.
Elephants are herbivores, eating a varied diet including grasses, leafy plants, bamboo, bark and fruits in the wild. Here at the Houston Zoo our elephants eat about 700 pounds of food a day! This includes 10 bales of hay, weighing about 60 pounds each, 50 pounds of varied produce, 48 bunches of kale, at least 5 pounds of grain, 2-3 loaves of wheat bread and plentiful leafy browse. Their diet is fed throughout the day as they are naturally grazers, which means they are always searching for food.
Want an idea of how to keep an 8,000 pound browser happy? First thing in the morning, the herd eats 3 bales of hay and the kale. During our daily Elephant Bath keeper chat, each adult elephant eats about 1 pound of grain, some chopped produce and some bread. Mid-morning, the Elephant keepers spread out 1.5 bales of hay.
When lunch time arrives, another 1.5 bales are handed out along with a generous portion of leafy browse or bamboo. Before the keepers leave for the day, we hand out another 4-6 bales of hay for the night. We also like to hide produce in puzzle feeders (think large barrels with holes) to keep the elephants busy throughout the day, and in the summer they receive bucket-sized ice pops with whole pineapples, mangos, bananas and apples frozen inside.
A sample of what's on the menu for our elephants
And then there’s vitamins – We all know taking our own vitamins is important, and it’s no different for the animals at the Zoo. Our elephants receive a burrito sized vitamin pack of bran, which aids in digestion, Cosequin, to keep their joints healthy, and Vitamin E, which is a naturally occurring vitamin in bamboo.
In addition to all that food, the Elephant keepers also do a substantial amount of training, which requires most of the produce and bread. Training is important for all our animals at the Zoo, enabling keepers to check and maintain the health of the animals, move them around with little stress and so much more.
Food and praise are used as reinforcers with our elephants so that we are able to wash them daily, take blood and urine samples, and shift them in and out of the barn, just as examples. In fact, each adult elephant knows over 50 behaviors! Training is a way for us to communicate what we need the elephants to do, and food and praise are the rewards, or pay, they receive for even the simplest of behaviors.
By the end of the day, somehow we have provided our 7 elephants with 700+ pounds of food! By now, you may be wondering, is there such a thing as a picky elephant? There sure is! Each elephant has some favorites and some even have foods they dislike. Here’s some fun food facts:
Thai, 45, isn’t too picky. Kale is definitely not high on his list, though. Watermelons are often an exciting reward.
Methai, 41, our oldest female does not like her green vegetables much. She loves sweet foods.
Tess, 27, loves the seasonal pumpkin and likes to crush them whole in her mouth!
Tess’s daughter, Tupelo, is only 10 weeks old hasn’t started eating solid foods yet.
Shanti, 20, likes to crush watermelons with her feet.
Shanti son Baylor, 7 months, is often seen stealing a piece or two from his mom. Baylor also enjoys bread and raisins.
And last but not least, Tucker, Tess’s 5 year old son, likes sweet fruits and will often drop his vegetables on the ground.
Written by Andrea Pohlman, Elephant Keeper
It takes $600,000 a year to feed our over 6,000 animals at the Houston Zoo. That’s a big bill!
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Our herd says “Trunk You Very Much!”
