14/02/2022
Elephants are classified as megaherbivores and consume up to 150 kg (330 lb) of plant matter per day. As generalists, they feed on a wide variety of food plants. In Sri Lanka's northwestern region, feeding behaviour of elephants was observed during the period of January 1998 to December 1999. The elephants fed on a total of 116 plant species belonging to 35 families including 27 species of cultivated plants. More than half of the plants were non tree species, i.e. shrub, herb, grass, or climbers. More than 25% of the plant species belonged to the family Leguminosae, and 19% of the plant species belonged to the family of true grasses. The presence of cultivated plants in dung does not result solely due to raiding of crops as it was observed that elephants feed on leftover crop plants in fallow chenas. Juvenile elephants tend to feed predominantly on grass species.
Food resources are abundant in regenerating forests, but at low density in mature forests. Traditional slash-and-burn agriculture creates optimum habitat for elephants through promoting successional vegetation.
Females and calves generally form small, loosely associated social groups without the hierarchical tier structure exhibited by African savannah elephants.However, at some locations such as Minneriya National Park, hundreds of individuals aggregate during the dry season, suggesting that grouping behaviour is flexible and depends on season and place.
Like all Asian elephants, the Sri Lankan subspecies communicates using visual, acoustic, and chemical signals. At least fourteen different vocal and acoustic signals have been described, which include some low-frequency calls that contain infrasonic frequencies.
