STUDIES ON THE FOOD HABITS OF LESSER KUDU IN TSAVO NATIONAL PARK, KENYA

Abstract

Summary: As part of a broader ecological investigation, in the framework of the Tsavo Research Project, food habits of lesser kudu have been studied during 2 y in Tsavo National Park (East).Free‐ranging lesser kudu were observed, from a Land Rover, while feeding in different habitats and at different times of the year. Each time one animal fed on one individual plant was noted as one “food record”; some 2000 records are analysed in this paper.Leaves of trees and shrubs constitute the main bulk of the diet of lesser kudu. Creepers and vines, herbs, grasses, fruits and tubers of some root succulents contribute variable but relatively small proportions of the food.Pronounced local and seasonal variations in the composition of the diet were found. Local variations are mainly a result of differences in the vegetation of the different habitats. Seasonal variations are caused by changes in the vegetation's condition, depending on rainfall. Deciduous trees and bushes, herbs, climbers and grasses account for much smaller proportions of the diet during the dry season, when evergreen species are crucial for survival.Lesser kudu feed on a wide variety of plants, utilizing all layers of the vegetation that they can reach, at least to some extent. A total of 105 plant species have so far been recorded as being eaten by lesser kudu.With regard to food only, the vegetation changes in Tsavo National Park do not appear to have had any adverse effects on the population of lesser kudu. However, the amount of suitably structured habitat has been substantially reduced in recent years. If present trends continue, it may decrease further, to the point of jeopardizing the future of lesser kudu in large parts of Tsavo National Park.