Elephants eat 10% of their body weight each day, which means they spend most of their time eating. Twice a day, we weigh out fruits and vegetables and divide them among 10 baskets, one for each elephant. We usually aim for 16-18 kilos (35-40pounds) per basket.
The elephants are all at different stages of life, and some can only chew/digest specific foods. They are also very picky. For this reason, we must follow a chart to tell us who gets what.
The elephants line up at the same place each day and are fed the contents of their basket (usually by tourists). I like to sneak away and feed Songkran. She eats very slow and needs to be hand fed, so visitors don’t always have the patience to sit with her.
When we do food shop in the morning, Aum Pan sits outside the door, pushing her trunk in the open vents. She loves to eat 🙂