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Lady and the Palm Nuts

December 6, 2023

Recently, we noticed that Lady had something curious in her mouth that we couldn’t immediately identify. It was full of round objects that we’d never seen her eat before. Upon further examination, we saw that she’d been collecting palm nuts to enjoy. (Don’t worry. They’re perfectly edible.)

The nuts were lying all around the yard, scattered in piles. So it’s not like she’d been snacking on one or two; rather, she’d been eating them by the dozens. The palm nuts can be found in the male Asian yard, but she has to reach quite high for some of them. We’ve found plenty of palm nuts in her poo, so clearly she has a taste for them and made herself quite the buffet for the morning.

Photo of Lady with palm trees in the background

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Comments(9)

  1. REPLY
    John says
    December 6, 2023 at 4:06 pm

    That’s so interesting that she put them in to piles around the yard. Trying to imagine her doing that intentionally, storing them up like squirrels do.

    • REPLY
      Sara says
      December 6, 2023 at 4:17 pm

      She seems much more interested in eating them than saving them!

  2. REPLY
    Carey says
    December 6, 2023 at 5:11 pm

    So many delights of the male Asian yard for Lady, how lovely for her, and very inquisitive of her to try them and see! Is it this type of Palm nut? https://soupsjunction.com/palm-nut-history-usage-benefits/ ? It’s probably got some kind of nutritional benefits for Lady?

    • REPLY
      Sara says
      December 6, 2023 at 5:35 pm

      According to Scott, it’s Acrocomia aculeata – which the Brazilians call Bocaiúva. Palm nuts are supposed to have health benefits in humans but, to our knowledge, there’s no information on whether there are nutritional benefits for elephants. They’re great at knowing what’s good for them to eat, though, and what they should stay away from.

  3. REPLY
    Julie says
    December 6, 2023 at 6:24 pm

    Oh wow. Lady loves Palm nuts. Do any of the other ladies eat them

    • REPLY
      Kat Blais says
      December 6, 2023 at 7:28 pm

      Guida used to eat them. There aren’t any of those palms in the female Asian habitat, mostly because Maia knocked them over for Guida to eat the first year they were here. There may be a few on the backside of yard 5 where Maia and Lady spend time. Rana goes there occasionally, but they’re really the only ones.

  4. REPLY
    Rachel says
    December 7, 2023 at 10:57 am

    I’m a nut lover too Lady! Family calls me squirrel. Enjoy! 🥰

  5. REPLY
    Diane Kastel says
    December 8, 2023 at 11:11 am

    Are palm nuts an unusual part of their diet? Do the other elephants like them?

    • REPLY
      Sara says
      December 8, 2023 at 11:42 am

      Palm nuts are not generally a regular part of their diet, simply because palm trees only grow in certain parts of the habitat. The other girls don’t have as much access to the palms as Lady has in the male yard, so we don’t know if they like them.

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