20 Animals That Only Eat Plants (Explained with Pictures)

Animals that only eat plants are as follows;

• Deer
• Kangaroo
• Cows
• Rhino
• Horse
• African Buffalo
• Zebra
• Elephant
• Panda
• Gorilla
• Rabbit
• Goat
• Koala
• Camel
• Donkey
• Beaver
• Bison
• Elk
• Eland
• Moose

Animals that we have discussed are;

1- Deer

Scientific name: Cervidae

Class: Mammal

Scope: Europe, Asia, North America, and South America

Introduction

Deer are found mainly in high mountainsides, deserts, and forests. There are around 43 species of deer in the world. They spent most of their time feeding, browsing, and grazing. 

Size and Weight

If we talk about their size, they have a length of 6 feet and a height of 3 feet at the shoulder. Although, their weight depends on age, sex, and species. Normally, male deers weigh around 120-160 pounds, and females weigh around 80-120 pounds.

Diet

As we know, deers are herbivores so they are animals that only eat plants. They eat plant food like grass, shoots of trees, leaves, and stems. They also like to eat fruits like apples, acorns, blueberries, blackberries, persimmons, and different vegetables. 

2- African Buffalos

Scientific name: Syncerus caffer

Class: Mammal

Scope: Africa

Introduction

These buffalos lived in Savannas, floodplains, mopane grasslands, swamps, and major African forests and mountains. African Buffalos are known as the most successful grazers in Africa. They favor to live in covered or dense areas like reeds and thickets, but they are also found in open areas or woodlands. 

Size and Weight

The size of African Buffalos is about 130-150 cm tall and weighs about 425-870 kg. Although, they are not so tall and have short legs. They are generally dark gray or black. Their color also changes with their age. The young buffalo’s color is reddish-brown. 

Diet

African Buffalos are pure herbivores. Their diet includes grass, leaves, stems, roots, shrubs, barks, herbs, and other foliage.

3- Zebra

Scientific name: Equus quagga

Class: Mammal

Scope: southern Africa

Introduction

Zebra’s wide range is found in east and southern Africa. They live in grasslands, savanna woodlands, rainforests, and wetlands. They prefer to live in open areas or treeless grasslands. There are three species of zebra in the world. 

Size and Weight

Zebras are generally 4.10-5.25 feet at the shoulder, and they weigh around 776-992 pounds at the shoulder. Mountain zebra is a bit smaller, with a size of 3.81-4.79 feet at shoulder height and weighing around 450-948 pounds. They have black fur with white stripes and mainly white bellies. 

Diet

Zebras eat a vast variety of different grasses. They normally eat grass, leaves, small trees, shrubs, shoots, saplings, barks, and herbs. Zebra spent 18 hours of the day feeding. 

4- Elephant

Scientific name: Loxodonta

Class: Mammal

Scope: Asia and Africa

Introduction

Elephants are giant living mammals on Earth. They mainly live in savannas, grasslands, and forests. Their wide range also occurs in deserts, swamps, and tropical and subtropical highlands of Asia and Africa. They can drink up to 50 gallons (200 liters) of water. On a daily routine, they require 68.4 to 98.8 liters of water. 

Size and Weight

As we have already talked about, they are giant mammals worldwide. So adult males weigh around 1,800 to 6,300 kg (2 to 7 tons). Female elephants are smaller than males, weighing from 2,700 to 3,600 kg (3 to 4 tons). Their height at the shoulder is 3 to 4 meters. And their color is greyish to brown.

Diet

Elephants are herbivores and animals that only eat plants, so they mainly feed on plant material or grass. Their main diet is roots, grass, bark, stems, small trees, bushes, twigs, and fruits like apples, carrots, and bananas. Elephants are so huge that they consume up to 300 pounds of food per day. In the wild, they can eat up to 600 pounds per day. And they don’t sleep much because they always want a large quantity of food to eat. They eat up to 16 hours a day. 

5- Panda

Scientific name: Ailuropoda melanoleuca

Class: Mammal

Scope: southwest China

Introduction

Pandas are mainly found in temperate forests in the high mountains of southwest China. There are two panda species, and only 1,864 pandas are left worldwide. The two species of panda include the Red panda and the giant panda. These both are from different families. The red panda belongs to Ailuridae, and the giant panda belongs to the Ursidae family. They both somehow have the same characteristics. 

Size and Weight

If we talk about giant pandas they are 2 to 3 feet tall and can reach up to 4 to 6 feet at the shoulder. The red pandas are smaller than the giant pandas. They can reach up to 22 to 24.6 inches long and have a tail of 14.6 to 18.6 inches long. In the wild, male giant panda weigh up to 250 pounds, and females are smaller than males, so they weigh around 70 to 120 kg. Male red pandas weigh about 3.7 to 6.2 kg and females around 3 to 6 kg.

Diet

Pandas mainly live on bamboo. Their main diet is bamboo roots, stems, roots, and leaves. They are 99% vegetarian and 1% carnivore and they eat eggs, carrion, and small animals. Pandas can eat up to 26 to 84 pounds per day. 

Animals That Live in Forests

6- Koalas

Scientific name: Phascolarctos cinereus

Class: Mammal

Scope: Australia

Introduction

Most koalas occur in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and a small area of South Australia. Koalas have two subspecies. One is ‘Adustus’, the northern Queensland koala. The other is ‘Victor’, the southern koala. They almost live in tall eucalypt forests and sleep around 22 hours daily.

Size and Weight

Koalas have an average size of 27 to 36 inches and weigh around 4 to 9 kg. Male koalas are 50% heavier than females. The southern koalas are 30% large than these koalas. They have rounded heads, big hairy ears, and black noses. They have curved backbones, and they have 11 rather than 13 ribs.

Diet

Koalas are herbivores, so they eat a variety of eucalypt leaves and trees like lophostemon, melaleuca, and corymbia. They eat 200 to 500 grams of leaves per day. 

7- Rhinos

Scientific name: Rhinocerotidae

Class: Mammal

Scope: southern Africa

Introduction

Rhino is the second giant mammal in the world that lives in grasslands and eastern and southern African floodplains. They can also be found in Borneo, Sumatra, Namibia, Eastern Himalayas, and Coastal East Africa. Around 1,000 species of rhinos existed, but now only 5 of them are remaining. Two live in Africa, and the other three are in Asia. 

Size and Weight

An average height of a rhino is between 3.3 to 5 feet, and length is between 6.5 to 13 feet, and they weigh around 1,320 to 2,090 pounds. Black rhinos are smaller than Africans, their height is 5.2 feet, and they weigh around 1,720 to 3,090 pounds. Their body color is gray, with a hump on their neck and long faces. 

Diet

Rhinos are herbivores. They eat various plants like grass, shrubs, leaves, foliage, twigs, barks, fruits, and roots. Rhinos can consume up to 120 pounds of grass per day. Their favorite fruit is apples, bananas, figs, berries, and watermelons. 

8- Cows

Scientific name: Bos taurus

Class: Mammal

Scope: Worldwide

Introduction

Cows are everywhere on Earth. Our biggest source of milk is the cow. They prefer to live in grasslands, open areas, fields, forests, and mountains. There are over 1,000 breeds of cattle worldwide. The lifespan of a cow is 20 years. They have a high sense of smell. They also have high hearing abilities compared to humans in high-frequency ranges.

Size and Weight

Male cows weigh around 450 to 1,800 kg, and females weigh between 360 to 1,110 kg. They have rectangular bodies and horns on their head, and their color is black, brown, white, dark brown, and red. 

Diet

Cows are animals that only eat plants and other vegetarian proteins. So their main diet is grass. Around 50% of cows feed on grass. Other food includes leaves, corn, wheat, grains, and oats. Although, there is a proper schedule for feeding cows. Normally, dairy cattle eat twice per day.

9- Gorilla

Scientific name: Gorilla

Class: Mammal

Scope: Central Africa

Introduction

Gorillas are generally found in lowland tropical rainforests of central Africa. Some are found in bamboo forests, and some in the montane rainforest. Two species of gorillas exist on Earth; eastern gorillas and western gorillas. Gorillas’ lifespan is between 35 to 40 years.

Size and Weight

Male gorillas are two times heavier than females. Western male gorillas are around 1.7 meters in body length and weigh around 169.5 kg. Females are 1.5 meters in length and weigh around 71.5 kg. They have broad chests and shoulders, and large hands, and their forearms are stronger than their upper arm. They have black face color, and their body color is gray-black to brown-black.  

Diet

Gorillas are herbivores. They mainly feed on vegetarian food like stems, bamboo shoots, leaves, seeds, ants, termites, and fruits, including bananas, berries, oranges, and grapes.

10- Rabbit

Scientific name: Oryctolagus cuniculus

Class: Mammal

Scope: Worldwide

Introduction

Around half of the population of rabbits occurs in North America. Also, in southwestern Europe, Southeast Asia, Sumatra, Africa, and South America. They mostly live in woods, grasslands, meadows, forests, deserts, tundra, and wetlands. There are 29 species of rabbits in the world, except for the continent of Antarctica. Rabbits normally live around 5 to 8 years. But this also depends upon breed and environment; some can grow up to 10 to 12 years. 

Size and Weight

Pygmy rabbits are small in size. These little rabbits weigh 9.3 inches and weigh less than a pound. There are also large species of rabbits that can grow up to 20 inches and weigh around 10 lbs. They have long ears, long hind legs, and short tails. 

Diet

Rabbits are animals that eat only plants and vegetarian food. Their diet includes grass, flowers, clover, twigs, leaves, buds, barks, conifer needles, and other plants. Their favorite vegetable includes carrots, endive, fennel, cucumber, bell peppers, brussels sprouts, and escarole. Fruits include bananas, apples, blackberries, strawberries, cherries, grapes, melons, oranges, and nectarines.

Animals That Live in Soil

11- Goat

Scientific name: Capra aegagrus hircus

Class: Mammal

Scope: Worldwide

Introduction

Goat mainly population is found in Asia, China, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Up to 300 breeds of goats are there in the world. But there is one rarest specie of goat, the ‘Arapawa‘ goat. The most common and popular breed is the Nubian goat. The lifespan of the goat is around 15-18 years. 

Size and Weight

Goat appearance depends upon breed type. Normally, their height is between 41- 58 cm, and the larger breed, such as Boer, weigh around 140 kg, and smaller goats weigh around 20 to 27 kg. Goats have horns on its head, short tail, and straight hairs. They have different shade color in brown and black. 

Diet

Goats are also animals that eat only plants and vegetables. So they mainly feed on leaves, pasture grass, barley, peas, corn, hays, forages, oats, and meals like canola, soybean, and cottonseed. They can eat up to two to four pounds of hay per day. 

12- Horses

Scientific name: Equus caballus

Class: Mammal

Scope: Worldwide

Introduction

Horses are found in almost every continent of the world. They prefer to live in open lands, plains, steppes, and prairies. There are around 400 breeds of horses in the world. These are divided into three main groups; light horses, heavy horses, and ponies. A horse’s lifespan is around 25 to 30 years. 

Size and Weight

The height of the Arabian horse is around 1.4 to 1.6 meters. The Akhal-Teke horse is around 1.5 to 1.6 meters, and the Hanoverian horse is around 1.6 to 1.7 meters. The length of an adult horse is around 2.4 meters. The average weight of the horse is around 900-2,000 pounds. They have oval-shaped hooves, long tails, short hair, thick neck, long cylindrical legs, and large elongated heads.

Diet

Horses are animals that only eat plants. Their common diet includes grass, hay, and haylage. They also eat carrots, apples, oats, and another vegetarian. The horse can consume 1.5 to 2.5 % of its weight in food per day.

13- Kangaroos

Scientific name: Macropodidae

Class: Mammal

Scope: Australia

Introduction

Kangaroos live in the continent of Australia. Each kangaroo chooses their place to live. There are four kangaroos species:

• The red kangaroo
• The eastern grey kangaroo
• The western grey kangaroo
• The antilopinus kangaroo

Their lifespan under human care is around 25 years, and they can live up to 8 years in the wild.

Size and Weight

Kangaroo’s height can reach up to 3 to 8 feet and weigh around 18 to 100 kg. They have short hairs, strong hind legs, small forelimbs, large feet, and a long tail. However, they have excellent hearing and eyesight. Their body color ranges from dark gray to black. 

Diet

Kangaroo is an animal that eats only grass or plans to be vegetarian. Their common diet includes leaves, ferns, flowers, moss, and shrubs. They also eat fruits like apples and bananas. Vegetables like carrots and broccoli.

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