Tracing the Source of the Elephant And Hippopotamus Ivory from ...

Chapter 8
Ecological and Dietary Requirements of Elephants
As the archaeological and historical evidence indicate, elephant ivory in the Late
Bronze Age was most likely not obtained from the Asian elephant but rather the African
elephant. While the two species are not entirely different in their diets and physiology,
their diet is largely influenced by the available vegetation (Ayliffe et al. 1992: 180), and
therefore the diet and ecological requirements of only the African elephant will be
considered here.
Unlike the strict graze diet of the hippopotamus, the African elephant may be best
described as an opportunistic or mixed feeder, consuming both browse (C3 plants,
including some grasses) and graze (including C4 grasses). Their diets can include more
than 100 species, including grasses, stems, the leaves, barks and small twigs of trees and
shrubs, forbes, palms, and fruit. The trunk limits their ability to be selective when
grazing, so that only tall grasses are generally consumed. Mature elephants, moreover,
ingest approximately 100-200 kg of food each day depending on the individual’s body
size. Water is also a vital part of the diet, and during most of the night and in the middle
of day elephants occupy the local drinking holes (Clemens and Maloiy 1982: 151; van
Hoven 1983: 47; Ayliffe et al. 1992: 180).
The African elephant is furthermore capable of residing in extremely diverse
habitats, from open savannah-grasslands, and bush or woodlands, to dense forests, and
even deserts. Moreover, studies on the feeding preferences of elephants vary widely
from one region to another (Dhakal and Ojha 1995: 29). Yet while the African elephant
shows remarkable variation in habitat and diet, the two are correlated, and as such the
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