Diet

• The tall African grasses are the staple of wild elephant diets.David De Lossy/Digital Vision/Getty Images
  
  African bush elephants are strictly herbivorous feast primarily on the grasses of the African savanna. They also eat twigs, tree branches, leaves and any fruits or vegetables they may come across in the forests or grasslands as well as any other non-poisonous vegetation. Bush elephants may also strip and eat tree bark or tree roots. They eat constantly and spend a majority of their time foraging for food.
  
  

Amount

• Elephants must eat several hundred pounds of plant matter per day to maintain their weight.Photos.com/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Elephants only digest approximately 50 percent of their food and as such must ingest between 300 to 350 lbs. of vegetation daily to maintain their massive body weights. This rate of consumption means that elephant herds must constantly be on the move in search of new food. They drink approximately 22 to 30 gallons of water per day from rivers and water holes.
  
  

Methods

• An elephant shoots water from its trunk to its mouth.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Elephants use their long, flexible trunks to grasp grasses and other vegetation. The trunk can coil around plant life, acting like a human hand, and bring the food to their mouths. They can also use their trunks to wrap around a tree branch and strip off its leaves. Bush elephants use their trunks to suck up water and then expel it into their mouths for drinking.
  
  

In Captivity

• Hay is a staple of a captive elephant's diet.Hemera Technologies/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  African bush elephants in zoos are fed a number a vegetative items. Cabbage, lettuce, sugar cane and fruits like apples and bananas are all fed to captive elephants. Hay and herbivore pellets are also given to captive elephants. Hay provides the roughage that mimics the dry African grasses the elephants eat in the wild, and herbivore pellets are condensed balls of plant matter packed with nutrients.