EXPERIMENTALLY DETERMINED FORAGING HEIGHTS OF BUSHBUCK TRAGELAPHUS SCRIPTUS AND BOERGOATS CAPRA-HIRCUS

Bushbuck Tragelaphus scriptus and boergoats Capra hircus occur togethe r in many Subtropical Thicket areas of the Eastern Cape, where they ar e dependant on the same forage source. Owing to their similar body siz es, they would be expected to forage in a similar vertical dimension. Potential competition for available forage was evaluated by means of f oraging trials at different heights. Boergoats had a greater foraging range than bushbuck, owing to their significantly lower preferred feed ing height, as well as their significantly higher maximum foraging hei ght. Higher maximum foraging heights were a result of their ability to assume a bi-pedal stance, which could give goats a competitive advant age over bushbuck, in areas where the preferred lower forage has alrea dy been removed.