Ever heard of elephants getting drunk on Marula fruit? I do not know where the story started or came from but it is NOT true. They do love Marulas and in the process of eating them, they break off huge branches from the trees sometimes destroying the whole tree but the fruit passes through their bodies within 24 hours. They do not chew it so it comes out the other side still whole as can be seen in this picture resulting in the fruit not even being digested let alone having time to ferment. I cannot see why they bother to eat it as they can derive no nutritional value from them and yet they continue to love eating them. Maybe like us, it just fills up that little hollow space they have in their daily 300kg need.
But what a great way of transporting the seed to new areas! Take care Diane
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of seeds only germinate if they pass through a birds stomach and others need fire to start germinating. Isn't nature fascinating!! :)
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