The ecology of eland (Taurotragus oryx) in the western Transvaal highveld

Abstract

The present study was conducted on the S.A. Lombard Nature Reserve to investigate the ecology of eland on the western Transvaal Highveld. Two adaptations were evident in eland in this environment. During the rainy season when the nutrient quality of grass was high, they acted like typical grazers by forming large herds and feeding mainly on grass, but during the dry winter when grasses lignified the eland changed their diet to browse and formed small social groups like typical browsers. Most females gave birth early in the wet season and a high calving rate and survival was experienced. Experiments conducted on two captive eland yielded good correlations between feed and water intake and between feed intake and faecal output. Despite large differences in body fat between the two experimental animals the combined body water/fat fraction was very similar in both eland, as well as the contents of the digestive tracts expressed as percentages of the live weights.