The large North American ungulate, known as the elk or wapiti, often sparks curiosity regarding its diet. Despite their impressive stature, elk are not carnivores (meat-eaters) nor are they omnivores (consumers of both plants and animals). They are definitively classified as herbivores, meaning their diet is overwhelmingly plant-based.
The Definitive Answer: Elk Are Herbivores
The animal kingdom classifies diets into three main groups: carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores. An herbivore, like the elk, sustains itself primarily on vegetation, including grasses, leaves, and stems.
An animal’s digestive system is specifically adapted to break down its main food source. The physical structure of the elk, including its broad teeth and specialized stomach, is designed for processing plant matter. This physiological reality firmly places the elk within the herbivore category, as the vast majority of their caloric intake comes from the vegetation they graze and browse.
Specialized Digestion: The Ruminant System
Elk belong to a group of mammals called ruminants, which possess a digestive strategy uniquely suited for breaking down tough plant cell walls. The defining feature of a ruminant is its four-chambered stomach, which facilitates the digestion of cellulose. This complex stomach includes the rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum.
The food is initially swallowed and enters the large rumen, a fermentation vat where specialized microbes begin to break down the fibrous plant material. After initial digestion, the elk regurgitates this partially processed food, known as cud, back into its mouth to be re-chewed. This process, called rumination, mechanically grinds the tough fibers, increasing the surface area for microbial action.
The re-chewed food then passes through the remaining chambers, where water is absorbed and final chemical digestion occurs in the abomasum, which is comparable to a simple stomach. This intensive process is necessary to extract maximum energy from the low-quality forage that makes up the bulk of the elk’s diet.
What Elk Actually Eat
The elk’s diet is highly dependent on the season and the availability of local forage, but it consistently centers on various plant types. During spring and summer, elk primarily graze on grasses and forbs, such as dandelions and clovers. As seasons change, they transition to browsing on the woody growth of shrubs, twigs, and the bark of trees like aspen and willow, particularly during the winter when other vegetation is scarce.
Elk must consume large quantities of forage, often eating up to 20 pounds of vegetation per day to meet their energy demands. Occasionally, an elk may be observed gnawing on shed antlers, bones, or consuming soil at mineral licks. This behavior, known as osteophagia, is not predatory but rather a way to supplement their diet with essential minerals, such as calcium and phosphorus, necessary for healthy bone growth, especially during gestation or antler development.