THE FOOD-SUPPLY OF WILD UNGULATES IN DRY SEASON ON GRASSLAND PASTURESIN ETHIOPIA

The nutritional parameters of wild ungulates at grassland were estimat ed in dry season (November-December 1991) by indirect methods. The dig estibility of food in zebra, Grant's gazelle, Swayne's hartebeest and hippopotamus was determined by the technique of lignin tracer. The dai ly intake of food was calculated basing on tile amount of daily egeste d feces. Zebra and hartebeest used mainly dry parts of grasses, the co ntent of proteins in their ration did not exceed 5%. Grant's gazelle c onsumed only green parts of plants, and their ration contained more th an 18% of proteins. The digestibility of dry matter in non-ruminants ( zebra and hippopotamus) was low (40 to 45%), in hartebeest it was high er (50%), in gazelle - up to 60%. The abundance of dry grasses leads t o the high daily food intake in zebra (7.2 kg/ind). Gazelles consumed 1.5 to 2.5 kg/ind, that was normal. The high selectivity of feeding in gazelles and the high areas of burnt pastures with green after-grass in dry season provided these animals with sufficient amount of highqua lity food and positive energy of protein balances. The high abundance and availability of dry grasses enabled zebras to retain positive ener gy balance in dry season, but did not supply them with sufficient amou nt of proteins and caused acute nitrogenous deficiency.