Page 185 - The Miracle of Migration in Animals

igrating elephants, the largest living
land animals, weigh between two to
seven tons. One of the smallest migrat-
ing land animals, the Belding’s ground
M squirrel weighing only 125 grams (4
ounces), starts migrating at the age of only two months.
Some of these species, varying so greatly in size, migrate
to find feeding grounds or more suitable environments, while others
migrate for reasons not entirely understood.

Elephants

The daily feeding requirements of a mature elephant are very
high. An elephant consumes around 75 to 150 kg (165 to 330 pounds)
of food and 150 to 300 liters (40 to 80 gallons) of water a day, which is
why an elephant community, roaming as a herd, needs a number of
feeding grounds. Elephants journey constantly over hundreds of
kilometers to feed on leaves, tree bark, fruit, grass and plants. They
spend 70 to 90% of each 24-hour day either feeding or moving to-
wards new sources of food. The remainder of their time is spent
bathing, drinking, resting and sleeping. Usually they’ll spend up to a
few days in one place before moving on, since if they do not, they
may totally exhaust the vegetation in that area.
Nowadays, elephants live principally in East Africa and in the
Far East, especially in Sri Lanka. Their migration to new feeding
grounds occurs mainly when there is no rainfall. For this reason, ele-
phant herds are more common in the dry season. Rainy season is best