Some Preliminary Observations on the Food of Elephant in the Tsavo Royal National Park (east) of Kenya
Abstract
SummaryThe background to this study is discussed. In the last five years elephant have caused a change in vegetation from dense bush to open country over large regions near the permanent water supplies in the Tsavo Royal National Park (East) of Kenya. Much destruction has also been caused, or aggravated, by fire. (See Map 1).In the 1961 drought, rhinoceros appeared to have suffered from competition with elephant for food, to the point of starvation, but there did not seem to be serious competition in normal dry seasons, such as 1962. In the drought the destruction of trees and bushes by elephant occurred to a far greater extent than during the dry season of 1962.The records of plants eaten apply specifically only to the areas where the data were collected (see Map 2), but probably in a more general manner to the Park as a whole. These plants, with their observed relative importance, are listed in Appendix I. It is emphasised that this study is as yet only in a preliminary stage, and should continue for several years, before final conclusions can be drawn.Elephant were found to eat a few plants in bulk at a particular time, such as grasses, creepers and herbs, along with smaller quantities of other materiai such as bark and leaves. Grasses were always of varying importance. Bark and leaves formed a larger proportion of the food in the dry season than in the rains, but were always eaten to some degree. The plant species of which the feeds were composed varied seasonally and annually. Certain apparently suitable plants were not eaten.Many food plants were analysed, and a few of these results are briefly mentioned. It appears possible that the eating of bark is a search for calcium, as the barks consumed are very rich in this mineral. Feeding behaviour is briefly described.
- Publication:
-
African Journal of Ecology
- Pub Date:
- August 1963
- DOI:
- 10.1111/j.1365-2028.1963.tb00177.x
- Bibcode:
- 1963AfJEc...1...40B