I have no personal experience with elephants as livestock, but I imagine
they kick out an inordinate amount of manure--like a personal manure
factory. Manure can often be the best perk of keeping livestock--they can
process green material and turn it into a form that will quickly
incorporate into the soil and enrich it. I cannot speak at all to the
particular chemical composition of elephant manure, but presumably it could
play a primary role in your soil building process. I am imagining that you
could use the elephant to eat vigorous plants that will quickly grow
back--you may even want to plant vigorous feedstock plants like this to
keep a constant supply of elephant food. Another option, which I don't
know if it would work or not but is worth considering, would be to use the
elephant to clear land of vegetation, similar to how a goat can clear a
weed patch or pigs can till up the soil. While elephants might temporarily
compact the soil due to their weight, they would presumably leave behind a
lot of nutrient rich organic from their manure, which would provide the
basis for a healthy soil building process.
Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.