Chapter 4: Mammoth on Truelove Lowland
6.4 ton adult elephant grazing like 1 average muskox (235 kg) on Devon Island
Month |
MEI kcal/ kg BW day |
MEI kcal/ BW day |
MEI kcal mth |
MEI kcal mth needed |
MEI kcal mth deficit |
MEI kcal deficit/death |
Sept |
51.625 |
12,132 |
363,956 |
3,091,140 |
3,054,745 |
3,054,745 |
Oct |
51.625 |
12,132 |
376,088 |
3,194,178 |
2,818,090 |
5,872,835 |
Nov |
51.625 |
12,132 |
363,956 |
3,091,140 |
2,727,184 |
8,600,019 |
Dec |
46.441 |
10,914 |
338,323 |
3,194,178 |
2,855,855 |
11,455,874 |
Jan |
46.441 |
10,914 |
338,323 |
3,194,178 |
2,855,855 |
14,311,729 |
Feb |
43.903 |
10,317 |
288,882 |
2,885,064 |
2,596,182 |
16,907,911 |
Mar |
42.311 |
9943 |
308,256 |
3,194,178 |
2,885,922 |
19,793,833 |
Apr |
41.311 |
9708 |
291,242 |
3,091,140 |
2,799,898 |
22,593,731 |
May |
43.903 |
10,317 |
319,833 |
3,194,178 |
2,874,345 |
25,468,076 |
June |
45.199 |
1622 |
318,653 |
3,091,140 |
2,772,487 |
28,240,563 |
Table explained
Adams’ mammoth bull, from the Lena Delta, has a shoulder height of about 3.2 m. He weighs about 6400 kg. The 6400 kg adult elephant in Tsavo East National Park in Kenya, East Africa, during the great drought of 1970/71 starved to death with a full stomach, when his deficit of metabolizable energy (MEI) had reached 9,812,938 kcal. That is at 35.41 percent of his body weight.
He is grazing here in this model on Truelove Lowland, Devon Island, as fast as 1 average muskox weighing 235 kg. On the sparse plant-cover of the polar desert and arctic tundra, the elephant is able to graze only as fast as 1 muskox, theoretically. Actually, the elephant is not able to graze as fast as one muskox, because they graze differently. The muskox preserves the arctic plant-cover. The elephant pulls the plants with their roots out of the ground, bites off the roots, and eats then the plants. He would ruin the fragile arctic plant-cover for years and would have nothing left to eat.
Month: This table begins at the 1st of September.
MEI kcal/kg BW day: The muskox takes in then 51.625 kcal metabolizable energy per kilogram of body weight per day. Adapted from B. A. Hubert (1977:482) Table 6.
MEI kcal month: The 235 kg muskox takes in then 12,132 kcal metabolizable energy per day.
MEI kcal month: In September the average 235 kg muskox takes in 363,956 kcal metabolizable energy.
MEI kcal month needed: But in September, the 6.4-ton Adams mammoth bull needs 3,091,140 kcal ME, to maintain his body weight.
MEI kcal deficit month: At the end of September, Adams’ mammoth bull has taken in 3,054,745 kcal metabolizable energy too little (below maintenance).
MEI kcal deficit and death: At the end of September, the 6.4-ton mammoth has taken in then 3,054,745 kcal metabolizable energy too little. To this we then add the MEI-deficit of the following months. At the end of October, his MEI-deficit has risen to 5,872,835 kcal. The 6.4-ton elephant will starve to death with a full stomach, when his deficit of metabolizable energy (ME) has reached 9,812,938 kcal. That is 35.41% of his body weight, at 4.33 kcal/gram dry matter.
The 6.4-ton elephant reaches here his critical deficit of 9,812,938 kcal MEI in the middle of December and starves to death. After 3.5 months, since the 1st of September.
At the end of March, the elephant reaches his deadly MEI-deficit a second time (if this were possible). It has added then up to (2 x 9,812,938 kcal) = 19,625,876 kcal MEI
Grazing as fast as two muskoxen
Someone might say now: The mammoth (or elephant) would surely be able to live on the wet sedge meadow, on this oasis in the polar desert of Devon Island, if he grazed up there as fast as two muskoxen.
How would the 6.4-ton Adams mammoth bull fare, if he tried to graze on the sedge meadow of Truelove Lowland, Devon Island, as fast as two average muskoxen, each one weighing 235 kg? I have calculated this also, but only want to give here the results.
He begins to graze at the 1st of September. The 6.4-ton Adams mammoth bull from the Lena Delta would reach his critical deficit of metabolizable energy of 9,812,938 kcal at the beginning of January, after about four months. Then he will starve to death, due to lack of metabolizable energy. The second time he will reach is deadly MEI-deficit at the end of April.
Musk-oxen in winter on the bare northern plains of Ellesmere Island, Canadian archipelago. From Bernard Stonehouse, Animals of the Arctic – the ecology of the Far North (1971:111)
Muskox and Mammoth
How much must the 6.4-ton adult elephant eat, to maintain its body weight? And how much does the average muskox on Devon Island weighing 235 kg, need, to maintain its body weight?
The 235 kg muskox on Devon Island takes in an average 38.699 kcal metabolizable energy per kilogram of body weight per day. This is the average of the 12 months of the year.
235 kg muskox times 38.699 kcal MEI/kgBW day = 9,094 kcal MEI day.
The adult Asian elephant Jap needs 144 kcal ME/kg0.75 day for maintenance.
6400 kg = 715.5417 kg0.75 BW x 144 kcal ME/kg0.75 = 103,038 kcal MEI/day.
103,038 kcal MEI/day : 9,094 kcal MEI/day (for 1 average muskox, weighing 235 kg) = 11.33 muskoxen.
This means: When grazing on the sedge meadow of Truelove Lowland, Devon Island, the 6.4-ton Adams mammoth bull must take in as much metabolizable energy, as 11.33 muskoxen weighing 235 kg each. This proves quantitatively, that the elephant or mammoth is not able to live on the arctic tundra and polar desert, just like the muskox of today. There is too little food. No elephant is able, to graze as fast on an arctic plant-cover per day as 11 muskoxen. The assumed adaptation of the woolly mammoth to a severe arctic climate is only a pious myth. It has nothing to do with serious science.
6.4-ton Mammoth on Devon Island, Protein Intake
Month |
Org. matter g/kg BW day |
% CP in food dry weight |
Org. matter intake g/day |
Org. matter intake g/month |
DCPI g/mth |
Sept |
20.0 |
18.75 |
4700 |
141,000 |
13,218 |
Oct |
20.0 |
18.75 |
4700 |
145,700 |
13,659 |
Nov |
20.0 |
10.625 |
4700 |
141.000 |
7490 |
Dec |
20.0 |
10.625 |
4700 |
145,700 |
7740 |
Jan |
18.0 |
10.625 |
4230 |
131,860 |
6966 |
Feb |
17.0 |
10.625 |
3995 |
111,860 |
5942 |
Mar |
16.0 |
10.625 |
3760 |
116,560 |
6192 |
Apr |
16.0 |
10.625 |
3760 |
112,800 |
5992 |
6.4-ton Mammoth on Devon Island, protein intake, continued
Month |
DCPI g/month needed |
DCPI g/month deficit |
DCPI kg deficit per month and death |
Sept |
69,293 |
56,075 |
56.075 |
Oct |
71,603 |
57,944 |
114.019 |
Nov |
69,293 |
61,803 |
175.822 |
Dec |
71,603 |
63,863 |
239.685 |
Jan |
71,603 |
64,637 |
304.322 |
Feb |
64,673 |
58,731 |
363.053 |
Mar |
71,603 |
65,411 |
428.464 |
Apr |
69,293 |
63,301 |
491.765 |
Table explained
Month: The mammoth begins to graze here on the sedge meadow of Truelove Lowland on Devon Island at the 1st of September.
Organic matter g/kg BW: The elephant takes in here just as much organic matter (sedge), dry weight, as one average 235 kg muskox, because he is not able, to graze there any faster than the muskox. In September, the 235-kg average muskox (and 6.4-ton Adams mammoth bull) both take in 20.0 grams organic matter per kilogram of body weight. In January 18.0 grams. Adapted from B. A. Hubert (1977:482) Table 6.
% CP in food dry weight: In September, the food contains 18.75 % crude protein (dry weight). In November and the rest of the winter, about 10.625 % CP.
Org. matter intake g/day: In September, the muskox and the mammoth both take in 4700 gram organic matter per day.
Org. matter intake g/day: In September, the muskox and the mammoth both take in 141,000 grams organic matter per month.
DCPI g/mth: In September the mammoth takes in 13,218 grams digestible crude protein (dry weight). He digests here 50% of the crude protein.
DCPI g/mth needed: The 6.4-ton adult elephant needs in September, with its 30 days, 69,293 grams digestible crude protein (dry weight), to maintain its body weight.
DCPI g/mth deficit: In September, the 6.4-ton adult elephant takes in 56,075 g digestible crude protein too little, below his maintenance.
DCP kg deficit per month and death: At the end of September, his DCPI deficit is 56.075 kg. And at the end of October, it has risen to 114.019 kg. The 6.4-ton adult elephant in Tsavo East, Kenya, East Africa, during the great drought of 1970/1971, has starved to death with a full stomach, when his deficit of digestible crude protein (DCP) had reached 220.021 kg, or 3.438% of his body weight. In the middle of December, after 3.5 months, since the beginning of September, the 6.4-ton elephant reaches his critical deficit of digestible crude protein of 220.021 kg, or 3.438% of his body weight. He starves to death. At the beginning of April he would reach his deadly DCP-deficit again (if this were possible). He starves to death with a full stomach, due to lack of digestible crude protein.
Woolly mammoth on its pasture. From: Björn Kurtén (1988:57).
Muskox and Elephant and digestible crude protein: maintenance
The Asian elephant cow Jap needed 3.228 g DCP/kg0.75 per day for maintenance. And the adult muskox needs about 2.664 g DCP/kg0.75 per day to maintain its body weight. Would the mammoth or elephant be able, to live on the arctic tundra or polar desert, just like the muskox of today? Let us take the 6.4-ton Adams mammoth bull from the Lena Delta, and the average muskox from Devon Island, with its body weight of 235 kg, as an example.
6400 kg = 715.542 kg0.75 x 3.228 g DCP/kg0.75 day = 2310 g DCP/day.
235 kg = 60.021 kg0.75 x 2.664 g DCP/kg0.75 day = 160 g DCP/day.
2310 : 160 = 14.44
This means: The 6.4-ton Adams mammoth bull from the Lena Delta would have to graze on the sedge meadow of Truelove Lowland, on Devon Island, in the high arctic tundra or polar desert, as fast as 14.4 adult muskoxen, weighing 235 kg each, just to maintain its body weight. On an arctic plant-cover this is not possible. There is too little fodder. Annual aboveground plant-production is far too low.
The African elephant is still able to live, where 255 grams aboveground dry matter per square meter has grown per year from 300 mm of rain. That is, when the wet season is 8-9 months long and the dry season 3-4 months. During the great drought of 1970-71 in Tsavo East N. Park, East Africa, about 5000 elephants and several hundred black rhinos have starved to death with a full stomach, where only 200 gDM/m² had grown per year from 254 mm of rain. (Phillipson, J. 1975:176).
Actually, the elephant or mammoth is not able to live at all in the arctic tundra and polar desert of Devon Island: Annual aboveground plant production (of sedges and grasses) is only about 40 gDM/m² year. And the growing season of the plants is too short, and the dormant season of the plants (the winter) is far too long, to support an elephant.
Body weight and above ground dry matter
How much does the muskox weigh on Devon Island? How much above ground dry matter must grow at least per square meter per year, so that these animals will be able to live there, so that they will be able, to maintain their body weight? How much more would the elephant or mammoth have needed, if it tried to graze on Devon Island, just like the muskox of today? The average muskox on Devon Island weighs 235 kg. The heavier muskox bull on Devon Island in August weighs 296 kg (Ben Hubert 1977)
The average muskox on Devon Island weighs 235 kg. According to my body-weight and aboveground-dry-matter-scale for grazers and browsers, the 235-kg muskox is able to live, to maintain its body weight, where an average of at least 36 g DM/m² is growing per year, to maintain its body weight. The heavy muskox bull on Devon Island, weighing 296 kg in August, needs an average above ground plant production of at least 46 g DM/m² per year.
The 3000-kg elephant (or mammoth) needs an average above ground plant production of at least 367 g DM/m² per year.
367 g : 36 g = 10.2 times more.
367 g : 46 g = 8.0 times more
This means: The 3000 kg elephant (or mammoth) needs 10.2 times as much food (dry matter), as the 235 kg average muskox on Devon Island. And it needs 8.0 times as much food (dry matter), as the 296-kg muskox bull.
The 6400-kg elephant (or mammoth) needs an average above ground plant production of at least 709 g DM/m² per year, to maintain its body weight. The 235-kg muskox needs 36 g DM/m² year, and the heavier muskox bull with his 296 kg needs 46 g DM/m² per year, to maintain its body weight. The 6400-kg elephant (or mammoth) needs 19.7 times as much food (dry matter), as the average 235-kg muskox on Devon Island. And it needs 15.4 times as much food (dry matter) as the 296-kg muskox bull.
The 10,000-kg elephant (or mammoth) of the Early and Middle Pleistocene needs at least 1065 g DM/m² per year, to maintain its body weight. The average muskox on Devon Island weighs 235 kg and needs 36 g DM/m² per year, to maintain its body weight. The heavy muskox bull on Devon Island weighs in August 296 kg and needs at least 46 g DM/m² per year, to maintain its body weight.
The 10,000-kg elephant (or mammoth) needs 29.6 times as much food (dry matter), as the average 235-kg muskox on Devon Island. And it needs 23.1 times as much food (dry matter), as the 296-kg muskox bull on Devon Island.
The muskox, which is living now on the arctic tundra and polar desert, needs 36 to 46 g DM/m² per year, to maintain its body weight. It is barely able to live there, because very little food is growing up there, and because the food, which has grown up there, is often hidden in winter beneath a layer of hard drifted snow and layers of ice. From this I conclude: The muskox is the largest grazing animal, which is able, to live now the year round on the arctic tundra (where no trees are able to grow) and on the polar desert. A larger animal, like the bison or elephant, is not able to live on the arctic tundra and polar desert, because too little food is growing up there. They would starve, thirst and freeze to death up there. This also proves quantitatively that the mammoth was not adapted to an arctic environment. The mammoth was not able, to live in the Far North, just like the muskox of today.