Where do elephants & gorillas get protein?

I just got an e-mail asking about “where do you get any protein if you don’t eat meat?”
Where do gorillas and elephants get their protein!? They are some of biggest land mammals and they are vegetarians.
Gorillas are herbivores , eating fruits, leaves, and shoots. Further they are classified as foliovores. Much like other animals that feed on plants and shoots, they sometimes ingest small insects also Gorillas spend most of the day eating. Their large sagittal crest and long canines allow them to crush hard plants like bamboo. Lowland gorillas feed mainly on fruit while Mountain gorillas feed mostly on herbs, stems and roots. I do admit that in a severe bind they will eat grubs, but they gotta be pretty hungry to eat frubs, wouldn’t you?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorilla

http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/mountaingorilla/mountaingorillas.html


Elephants are herbivores, spending 16 hours a day collecting plant food. Their diet is at least 50% grasses, supplemented with leaves, bamboo, twigs, bark, roots, and small amounts of fruits, seeds and flowers. Because elephants only digest 40% of what they eat, they have to make up for their digestive system's lack of efficiency in volume. An adult elephant can consume 140–270 kg (300–600 lb) of food a day. 60% of that food leaves the elephant's body undigested.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant#Diet


http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/elephants/elephants.html