Asian elephant

Elephants in the wild can spend up to 19 hours a day feasting on a variety of plants. In southern India, elephants were to eat up to 82 different plant types.

Each of our elephants get around 150 kg of grass and leaves a day, in 20kg ‘bite-sized’ chunks every hour. Watch out for the cheeky antics of Tun – she is known to ‘steal’ food from even the matriarch of the herd, Jamilah.

While browse makes up the bulk of their diet, our elephants also enjoy the occasional fruit such as bananas, apples, watermelons, mangosteens. Sugarcane, tamarind and carrots are also given, but only as treats.

Look out for the new app-controlled feeding boxes in Chawang’s exhibit, marking our move towards activity-based exhibits. At the tap of a phone, the boxes release a ‘rain’ of peanuts and pellets. The random timings never fail to catch our 40-year-old bull by surprise.

Tusks are modified incisors of an elephant. Only male elephants have tusks, unlike the African elephants where both males and females have tusks. Elephants use tusks to strip tree bark and to dig for water and salt.

They're also valued as ivory in the illegal wildlife trade. Since 2013, eight tonnes of ivory have been seized at Singaporean ports. It’s time we take poachers to task. Say no to ivory!