AMOUNT ELEPHANTS WILL EAT. 99 



The amount of fodder required by an elephant is much greater than is 

 usually supposed. The Government allowance in Bengal and Madras for 

 an elephant of full size is as follows : — 



Bengal. 



Lb. 

 Green fodder — viz., grasses, branches of trees, sugar-cane, &c, . . m 400 



Or in lieu of the above, dry fodder — viz., stalks of cut grain, &c, . 240 



Madras. 

 Green fodder, ......... 250 



Or dry fodder, ........ 125 



But the amount of suitable green fodder which a full - grown elephant 

 will consume in eighteen hours I have found, by numerous experiments, to 

 be much greater than this — viz., between 600 and 700 lb. This is what a 

 beast of average appetite will actually eat, excluding what it throws aside ; 

 and I have seen a large tusker eat 800 lb., or 57 stone, in eighteen hours. 

 I lately experimented with eight females with dhall grass (a grass with stalks 

 from five to ten feet in length that grows in water, and of which elephants 

 are fond) for eight consecutive days upon cleared masonry stands, where 

 the waste was collected and weighed. Commencing at 6 p.m., they ate an 

 average weight of 650 lb. by 12 a.m. next clay out of 800 lb., given as 

 follows : — 



Lb. 

 At 6 p.m., ...... 560 



At 6 a.m., ...... 240 



800 lb. of the same grass stocked on an open grating lost by dryage — 



In the first 24 hours, ..... 40 



In the second 24 hours, .... 120 



So the total dryage in two days was 160 lb. This shows that the grass 

 was not unduly wet. From 12 a.m. till 6 p.m. the above elephants were 

 out bringing in fodder, and had pickings in the jungle. They also had 1 8 

 lb. of grain per diem. 



800 lb. may be looked upon as the minimum weight of good fodder that 

 should be placed before full-sized elephants per diem. This amount only 

 allows a margin of 1 5 lb. for waste, so the fodder must be good, or 8 

 lb. will not be sufficient. A good elephant-load of fodder weighs 800 lb. ; 

 so as much as an elephant can bring in may be looked upon as necessary 

 for his requirements. Smaller elephants will bring in quantities propor- 

 tionately sufficient for their wants. I have never tried elephants exclusively 



