The African elephant occupies a variety of habitats, from open grassland to forested areas to mountainous regions to semi-desert. Its distribution includes most of the African continent south of the Sahara. African elephants are herbivores, and are predominantly grazers rather than browsers. An African elephant can consume 150 to 300 pounds of food in a day. In fact, because of its great size, strength and need for enormous quantities of food and water, its impact on its environment can be severe. That coupled with poaching, habitat destruction and the encroachment of human populations on its habitat and migration routes have caused wild numbers to rapidly decline.