A Peaceful Day in the Bush with the Herd | Day 2 of Trails for Trunks

Elephant awareness weekend continues! Join us as we spend another day moving for elephants with the Jabulani herd.

Day 2 of Trails for Trunks is a peaceful one. We hear from Elephant Carers Joshua, Blessmore and Chriswell, as well as HERD Operations Manager Juan. Juan mentions that he will be walking 10km today, though we suspect that he will be walking most of that by himself.

After a while, the elephants stop walking and start foraging. They usually stop every few kilometres to eat. Elephants can spend up to 18 hours a day foraging, and they eat around 100-270 kilograms (about 220-595 pounds) of food per day. Depending on the quality of the food, they can digest as little as 22% of the food they consume. The majority of what elephants eat is excreted as dung.

Elephant dung creates an ideal microhabitat for seed germination. As elephants travel and produce dung, they spread seeds. This can introduce much-needed plant diversity in previously mismanaged areas. This is one of the reasons why elephants are considered to be ecosystem engineers. You can read more about how elephants sculpt the landscape they move through here: https://herd.org.za/blog/what-it-means-when-we-call-elephants-ecosystem-engineers/

Join us tomorrow for day 3 of Trails for Trunks!

We sincerely thank everyone who has been raising awareness for elephants this week. We love seeing your posts, receiving your photos, and reading your comments! It’s truly heartwarming to see how much everyone cares about these remarkable animals 🐘

#trailsfortrunks #worldelephantday

Видео A Peaceful Day in the Bush with the Herd | Day 2 of Trails for Trunks канала HERD Elephant Orphanage South Africa