African Elephant Browsing (IMAGE) University of Utah Caption An African elephant browses on shrubs at Kenya's Samburu National Reserve. A new University of Utah study found that elephants, like many African animals, tried grazing on grass during the past 4 million years, but eventually switched to browsing on trees and shrubs like the African elephant or went extinct, like the Asian elephant did in Africa, even though it survives in Asia. Credit Mahala Kephart Usage Restrictions Credit required License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.