Elephants have a great appetite for food. Strictly vegetarian, their diet includes various kinds of vegetation material. In winters, elephants in the foothills of Himalayas disperse uphill to the elevations up to 1500 meters to munch on a variety of vegetation that grows on the slopes, especially the dwarf hill bamboo called ‘Ringal’.
Another great need the elephants have is for water. In hot weather, they need to visit a water source like a waterhole, forest stream or a river to cool them. After having a bath, they spray themselves with soil to create a layer on their bodies to keep themselves cool. The elephants can also drink as much as 200 litres of water in a day’s time.
When the summers approach and the water sources on the slopes of hills start drying up, elephants start congregating in the river valleys. On a safari to Corbett Tiger Reserve, Jim’s Jungle Retreat head naturalist Amith Bangre recorded this herd of elephants in a river valley located close to the Retreat.
Elephant herd in a river valley
