Fourie et al Food quantity odour data

These data were used to test whether odour cues alone would enable a mammalian herbivore to make patch choice decisions based on forage quantity from afar. We used semi-domesticated African elephants (Loxodonta africana) as a model system due to their reliance on olfaction and their high foraging selectivity. Elephants reliably selected the patch with more food when the difference in quantity was >600 g. Previous research suggests that 600 g corresponds to approximately 6–10 trunk loads of grass or 16–29 trunk loads of woody vegetation leaves. Our findings suggest that olfactory cues can facilitate long-distance foraging decisions in mammalian herbivores based on relatively fine-scale differences in food availability.