Original Research

The winter diet of elephant in Eastern Cape Subtropical Thicket, Addo Elephant National Park

R.G.T. Paley, G.I.H. Kerley
Koedoe | Vol 41, No 1 | a244 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/koedoe.v41i1.244 | © 1998 R.G.T. Paley, G.I.H. Kerley | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 31 July 1998 | Published: 31 July 1998

About the author(s)

R.G.T. Paley, University of Port Elizabeth, South Africa
G.I.H. Kerley, University of Port Elizabeth, South Africa

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Abstract

Direct observational methods were used to establish the winter diet of elephants in Eastern Cape Subtropical Thicket in the Addo Elephant National Park, thereby determining which plant species were most at risk from elephant herbivory. A total of 70 species were identified as food plants for elephants, with the grass Cynodon dactylon and the succulents Portulacaria afra and Platythyra haeckeliana dominating, both in terms of frequency of feeding events and volume consumed. In view of the fact that elephants represent 78 of the herbivore biomass in the park, it appears likely that elephant feeding restricts the availability of forage for other browsers. Due to the limited time frame of this study, further research is needed to provide a comprehensive record of the elephant diet for all seasons of the year.

Keywords

elephant, Addo, diet, succulents, winter.

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